A Whole New Level
by Syn1315
Summary: After Pein's attack on the Hidden Leaf, Naruto and Kakashi realize that they are two of the only few that stand between the Leaf and it's greatest enemies. Together, the young Hokage and young Sage do everything they can to keep the Hidden Leaf protected.
1. Chapter 1

A Whole New Level

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, at all.**

* * *

Naruto kneeled in front of Jiraiya's grave, his body exhausted and his mind racing. If only the Pervy Sage had seen what he had accomplished, if only he could tell him that the Fourth Hokage was his dad. He would've known already though. Wouldn't he have?

"Yeah." Naruto mumbled to himself. He knew. Naruto looked up towards the sky and watched as a cloud drifted slowly overhead. Jiraiya was the Fourth's sensei, of course he knew. Hell, he imagined that several people most likely knew. It was the Fourth Hokage, how could he keep having a son secret?

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as his thoughts drifted to his own sensei. The Fourth's student. Kakashi. Of course Kakashi knew. He always compared Naruto to the Fourth, always said he could surpass him, and always lingered his gaze on Naruto as if he was seeing a ghost from his past. Of course he knew, or at least suspected that Naruto was the son of his sensei.

As the cloud moved out of sight, Naruto decided it was most likely time to head back. His fight with Pein lingered in his muscles. He was exhausted. Mentally and physically exhausted. "Time to go." He stood up and began the walk home. To what was left of home. Everyone was alive though, and that is what made Konoha home to Naruto. He loved the people. Those who ignored him, those who acknowledged him, those who befriended him, and those he loved. It didn't matter who it was, he loved he people of Konoha with all of his heart, and showed it today.

Naruto smiled. He showed them. Whether or not anyone acknowledged him when he got back, he was proud of himself and his accomplishments. He avenged the Pervy Sage and gained an understanding of his enemy's ideals. An enemy, but a fellow student. Someone he truly understood.

As he took another step, he felt his muscles ache and his eyelids grow heavy. He slumped against the tree and started to fall forward. He wanted rest, just for a little while. As he drifted forward he felt himself caught against something soft, and instantly recognized the voice of the source. "Good job, Naruto." They were three simple words from his sensei, but Naruto could feel the pride radiating from them. Kakashi was proud. Naruto smiled and rested his head against his sensei's shoulder as he walked.

After what seemed like a few minutes, Naruto opened his eyes and watched as they slowly passed familiar trees. He looked at the ground and enjoyed the slow pace, the relaxing pace. "I saw my dad." Naruto mumbled sleepily but happily. Kakashi turned his head towards him with a wide eye, but decided not to question it.

"I saw mine too."

"Then it wasn't too bad of a day." Naruto said before yawning.

Kakashi's eye turned upward as he smiled from under his mask. "Not too bad at all." Kakashi looked down at his feet as he walked, his eye showing a mix of pride for Naruto and disappointment in himself. He always tried his best to teach Naruto, but Jiraiya had been the true master. Now, Naruto had become stronger than anyone in the Leaf. He had surpassed his predecessors. Not because of Kakashi, but because of Jiraiya.

"Kakashi-sensei?" The sleepy voice sounded from his shoulder.

"Yes, Naruto?" A moment of silence between the two made the moment intense yet awkward as Kakashi awaited the boy's response.

"Thank you. For everything. I couldn't have asked for a better sensei, and a better friend." Kakashi's eye widened and a lump caught in his throat. After everything, Naruto considered him a friend. That, in Kakashi's mind, felt a lot better than being just a sensei.

"And I couldn't have asked for a better student or friend." Just like that, Kakashi felt as though he and Naruto were closer than they had ever been. Naruto smiled.

As the two saw light at the edge of the forest, Kakashi smirked as he heard cheers coming from the village. His eye curved as he smiled, a glint of pride in them. Naruto truly was amazing. Now, he is the Hero of the Hidden Leaf. How will he react? Will he be happy? Confused? Kakashi decided to let the experience just play out.

Naruto's eyes widened as they entered the clearing to see millions of people, ninjas and villagers alike, waiting for him to come home. They cheered for him and cried for him. They laughed and they tossed their arms wildly. Naruto slid off Kakashi's back and it still felt as though he wasn't standing. Was this truly what it felt like to be acknowledged?

"You did it Naruto!"

"Welcome home Naruto!"

"Our savior!"

No, this was what it was like to be a hero, and a savior of people. To be loved by those you protect. Naruto gave the mass of people a confused look as they started barreling towards him with praise and laughter. Children gripped his legs tightly and he received hugs from ninjas who were brought back to life. Naruto felt as if he wasn't breathing, as if he was floating. Was he floating? He looked down to see his feet firmly on the ground, but numb from the loss of circulation due to the children's grips on his legs.

He looked past all the people holding him to find the one person he was looking for. Her pink hair was dirty and hung loose as she walked towards him with an agenda. Her eyes were looking down, the shadow of her hair blocking their intent as she stepped as close as she could to him. He felt an ache in his head as he watched her fist knock him to slightly hunch him over. Then he felt warm. For a second, he panicked that he had pissed himself. Then, he felt her arms squeeze him tightly and her fingers grip his jacket. "You idiot." She whispered.

Naruto just stood there with his arms at his side, confused on how to react. Did he hug back? He felt someone grab his arm and put it around Sakura's back. Turning his head slightly right, he saw Kakashi, with an eye smile, give him a thumbs up. Naruto only shook his head and gripped Sakura tight. "Was pretty cool, huh?" Naruto said with a cheesy grin on his face. Sakura only nodded and smiled.

"It was pretty cool."

Kakashi looked back to his two remaining students. How things have changed. Multiple times he had wished he could go back in time to prevent Sasuke from leaving. From tearing Team 7 apart. Yet, he realized at this moment, Team 7 would never be closer. What if the roles had been reversed? What if Naruto had been the one to leave? Kakashi couldn't imagine such a scenario. Naruto was Team 7. Without him, they would be any other team out there, but Naruto made it special. Naruto made it strong. He made it funny. He made it alive.

* * *

Iruka couldn't help but shed tears of joy for his beloved student. Naruto Uzumaki definitely earned the acknowledgement of the Leaf now. What a ninja he was. He looked beside him to see Konohamaru no longer crying or cheering, but just looking at Naruto with pride and awe.

"Ya know, Iruka-sensei? It's pretty amazing that we get to witness the greatest ninja in history." Iruka's eyes widened. The greatest? Iruka turned his attention back to the orange clad genin. Was he the greatest? He had accomplished so much, had saved his entire village, all while carrying such a burden inside of him. Tsunade could not stop Pein, Kakashi could not stop Pein, no other ninja even put up a fight. Yet here was Naruto Uzumaki, defeating not just one, but all of the Peins. The greatest.

"Yes. I suppose that is pretty amazing. And at such a young age. I never would have thought," Iruka stopped himself and looked towards the remains of the village, "No, I definitely knew it. I could feel it in my heart back then. Naruto always had a passion for being a ninja that no other student I've had could rival. He didn't just want to be Hokage, he knew he would be Hokage. Naruto knew that in his heart because he wanted it so bad, he wouldn't take no for an answer. And here he is. A hero. A true ninja. If he were to be Hokage right now, I would support the decision no matter his age. Naruto has what no other person has."

Konohamaru looked up at Iruka with a curious face. "What is that exactly, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka looked down at his old student and gave him a wide grin. "The heart." He stated simply.

Shikaku stood beside Kakashi and watched as the crowd threw Naruto up into the air, chanting his name. "I am worried, Kakashi. A part of me wants to enjoy and cherish this moment, but the logical part of me is concerned over the safety of Konoha." Kakashi peered over at Shikaku lazily.

"Now now, Shikaku. The time for that will come later. For now, everyone needs this bit of joy to keep themselves sane. Pein's attack, not only crippled Konoha, but proved that we were hopeless without Naruto," Shikaku glanced at Kakashi, "you see, they realize this. Look at them, they want to be as close to him as possible. They are comforted by his presence. They know that if something happens, he is the only one they can look to."

"Which brings me to my next concern," Shikaku began, "Naruto is going to be expected to do many great things now. He not only gained acknowledgement, but he proved that he is the strongest ninja in Konoha. Kakashi, this is a heavy burden on Naruto."

Kakashi looked over the sea of people at his blonde student, before smiling and giving Shikaku a light tap on the shoulder. "He'll handle it. He knows plenty about carrying burdens." Shikaku's eyes slightly widened, before he nodded with a smirk on his face. Naruto definitely could handle it.

* * *

Kakashi walked alongside Yamato, his stride lacking the usual laziness. "Kakashi Hatake." He heard as he opened the door to the temporary council room. "We have summoned you to announce that you will be the Hidden Leaf Village's Sixth Hokage." Just as Kakashi suspected. Yamato however, had his jaw on the floor and his legs in the air.

"It is already decided then? Who were the choices?" Kakashi questioned. He had his suspicion and needed to know. He was sure that the other candidate, if they were involved with the council, would not be pleased. He would have to know the candidates so he could be wary of them.

"It is decided. The other candidates were Danzo Shimura."

Yup. Definitely needed to be careful of him.

"You, of course."

Also needed to be careful of that one. So handsome and charismatic. He could take the position right out from under him. Kakashi snickered.

"And Naruto Uzumaki."

Whoa.

"Naruto?" Yamato asked, in shock. Kakashi stayed silent, but was also shocked at the news.

"Of course, he did save the village after all. Experience though, proved to be more valuable in this time of crisis." The elder spoke.

Naruto? The more Kakashi thought about it, the less surprising it was. He was almost tempted to decline the offer so that Naruto could have a chance at it. Yet, Naruto would probably say no. Not before he saved Sasuke. Or would he? "I need time." Kakashi spoke.

"You have no time. There is a summit that you need to prepare for very soon. It is the reason we have chosen a new Hokage so quickly. Otherwise we would have waited for Tsunade-sama to recover."

Kakashi sighed. Hopefully Naruto would understand. Besides, he wasn't even sure if Naruto would beat out Danzo. Kakashi had no clue what Danzo was capable of. "Very well. Anything else?"

"You must choose two bodyguards to accompany you to the summit. No more, no less. It is being held in the Land of Iron. You have 3 weeks to prepare before you must set out."

Kakashi only nodded before leaving the room silently.

* * *

"Whoa! Kakashi-sensei this is awesome!" Naruto ran throughout the room looking through all the cabinets and folders. Sakura was in the middle of the room, standing politely, but fuming.

"Naruto," Kakashi sweat dropped, "that is still classified information you are going through." That didn't stop the blonde as he peered under the Hokage's desk looking for anything interesting.

"Naruto." A chill ran down Naruto's spine as he heard Sakura's cold voice.

"Heheh. Yes, Sakura?" He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. Kakashi tilted his head to the side and gave a small smile as the two of them bickered. He hoped this never changed, regardless of any titles or ranks.

"There is something important I must ask of you, Toad-sama." Kakashi jested. Naruto developed a depressed aura around him at the new title.

"Kakashi-sensei, how could you?" Naruto murmured as his head and shoulders slumped over. Sakura only giggled, furthering Naruto's embarrassment.

"All jokes aside. I am requesting that you come with me to the Kage's summit in the Land of Iron," Naruto stood straight and adopted a serious look, "you will be my bodyguard, along with Shikamaru." Naruto nodded. Sakura only looked left out as she looked between the two.

"Um, sensei, what should I do?"

"You will be the head of all medical services. With Lady Tsunade in a coma, all medics will be looking to you for guidance."

Sakura hung her head. She was always the teammate left out in Team 7. Kakashi and Naruto would be off doing something that could change the world. At a Kage Summit. Here she was stuck in the village, in the background, as always. She knew that taking care of the wounded was important, but she wanted so desperately to be by their side as they conquered everything.

"Sakura," Naruto's voice sounded out beside her, "you're always important to Team Seven." He gave her a thumbs up and a small, but enlightening smile.

"I know, but…" She began.

"I am sorry Sakura," Kakashi interrupted, "please realize, the only reason I am going to this summit is because I am Hokage. Do not feel like the odd person out. The fact is, Naruto has become the strongest ninja in our village." Sakura's eyes widened at the realization as Naruto just scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You are almost as strong as I am, Sakura. Naruto is on another level. To be honest with you, I am a little left out too."

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at Kakashi curiously. "Whattya mean Gramps?" An immediate crash ensued.

"Do you always have to insult the Hokage, Naruto?!" Kakashi sweat dropped as he saw Sakura hovering over Naruto's collapsed and beaten body, lecturing him.

Kakashi let out a small cough to refocus their attention. Both the students stood straight, especially Naruto. "I mean, with the way Naruto is growing right now, he has not only surpassed me, but even the previous Hokages. I am going to be honest with you right now Naruto, you were a candidate to be the Sixth Hokage." Sakura gasped and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Me?" Naruto whispered. Sakura only looked at the blonde in disbelief.

'Naruto as the Hokage? At 16?' She thought to herself.

Kakashi watched the two's reactions before continuing. "Yes. You are the Savior of the Leaf. The Toad Sage. The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The Slayer of Pein," Kakashi watched as both of his students lingered on every word, "and, even if they do not know it, you remind them of your father."

Sakura rose her eyebrows and looked between Kakashi and Naruto. His father? Who was his father? She paused as she looked at Naruto and saw a photograph of the Fourth behind him. It couldn't be, could it? She let it go for now after seeing the discomfort in Naruto's eyes.

"I am not my fath-" Naruto paused as Kakashi tossed him an odd, three-pronged kunai.

"I figured you would want to try and figure this out, it was his trademark jutsu after all." Naruto stared at the kunai in awe. His father's kunai. "I watched him use it in war. He could single handedly take out entire battalions of enemy ninja." Sakura had no doubt in her mind now. Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage.


	2. Chapter 2

_I am liking this story. I haven't wrote a fanfiction before, but I am liking it in different ways than writing my own story. With fanfiction the characters and their personalities are already set up for you. It's just up to me if I want to develop them and point them in different directions._

 _I am trying to leave the character's personalities as similar as possible to the show and manga, with slight changed based on the decisions they make. They will slowly become a bit different, but nothing huge. Naruto won't become an emo and Sasuke won't love ramen with all of his heart. I am loving the bond between Kakashi and Naruto already and have so many ideas and plans for this._

 _I am really excited for the story to get going, as this is a lot of introduction and setting up. Anyways, I hope you all love this chapter! I had fun writing it!_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. At all.**

* * *

Naruto sat atop the Fourth Hokage's head, watching over the Hidden Leaf. He found himself a bit tense ever since he had stopped the Pein attack. There was someone who was able to manipulate Pein. Even greater, someone who was able to manipulate the Kyuubi. How could he defend his people against someone like that? Someone who can just manipulate a mass of evil chakra into doing his bidding spells bad news. As if the writing wasn't already on the wall. Naruto knew that he was in trouble. Now, he finally realized, that it is up to him to stop this masked man.

Naruto pat the stone he was sitting on top of. The Fourth believed in him. His dad believed in him. He should be good. Naruto smiled. Yep, he was good. "Naruto." The blonde looked up to see Kakashi standing behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto watched as Kakashi walked over and sat beside him before… Pulling out an orange book. Naruto gave Kakashi a deadpan look.

"What? Helps me to relax. Besides, I am going to need it if we're going to keep having our conversations full of revelations." Naruto gave him a confused look. Kakashi sighed. "Our talks that reveal our secrets, facts about us."

"Oh, well why didn't you just say so? All these fancy words annoy me." Naruto mumbled. Kakashi gave a smile and chuckled. He watched the young blonde stare out into the distance. He had grown up. A lot. Just yesterday this young kid was jumping around the village and causing mischief. Wanting to be acknowledged, wanting attention. Now, he had a goal and the means to attain it.

"You're smarter than you make yourself out to be," Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a funny look, "Naruto, you shouldn't be so down on yourself. I know what you're thinking. But trust me, just because you haven't brought back Sasuke doesn't mean you aren't a hero."

Naruto twitched and then slumped over. "I wasn't even thinking about Sasuke, now I am even more depressed." Kakashi facepalmed and slumped over as well. "Kakashi-sensei how could you make my mood even worse when it is so low?" Naruto grumbled.

"My point remains. Don't try to take on everything at once. You are a hero. Bathe in the glory for a while. Worry about the enemies that come later. Besides, we have a Summit coming up which is the cause of enough worry."

Naruto grunted and lied down, his arms behind his head. "I'm not letting my guard down Kakashi-sensei. The people of the Leaf need Naruto Uzumaki more than Naruto Uzumaki needs rest. I need to train harder, to be more dedicated. That way I can protect them from the real Akatsuki leader. That way I can protect them from anything that comes our way." Kakashi just looked at the village below. There it was. He really had grown up.

"You are just like your father. Goofy, but serious when it counts. I knew him well, and sometimes it scares me how similar you two are. I look at you sometimes and it's as if I see him standing there." Naruto stared intently, soaking in every word. "I always looked to him for guidance, and now here you are looking to me for guidance. You've surpassed us both Naruto, and I am proud of the man you are becoming."

"Ah man, Kakashi, don't make this a sappy moment, ya know?" Naruto pulled the three-pronged kunai from his pocket and twirled it in his hand. Kakashi smiled, the kunai only furthered the resemblance.

"Have you learned what the kunai is? How it works?" Kakashi asked.

"Sort of, but not really," Naruto replied, "it is a seal that makes it really work. I think the three prongs are just the trademark so that he can distinguish it. He mastered sealing so well that he was able to almost summon himself to it."

Kakashi nodded. "Not quite. You're close though. Give it a bit more focus and work, you will figure it out."

Naruto groaned. "What is the point in that though? Why can't you just tell me?"

"Ah, but what would be the fun in that?"

Then, Kakashi had a feeling. A serious feeling. Something was coming.

"Uh oh." _Poof._

Naruto sat up on his elbows and looked towards where Kakashi's shadow clone was. "What?"

Silence.

"YOSH!" Oh boy. Naruto watched as Maito Guy and Kakashi launched overhead, his expression turning into disbelief. Really? He listened as the two giggled like two school girls, throwing pots and pans at each other and racing in the opposite direction of the village. "GIVE IT UP MY ETERNAL RIVAL! NO! YOU DO NOT GIVE UP BECAUSE OF YOUR FLAMES OF…. YOOOOOooooouth…." Naruto watched them run into the distance out of earshot. He looked around for a moment before getting a bit excited and racing off after them.

Naruto watched in anticipation as the two Jounin bumped into each other and dove for the finish line. "YOOOOOSH!" Naruto watched carefully as the ribbon was ripped and the two tumbled. Guy quickly got up and looked over to Lee, his fists balled in excitement. "Lee! You've gotta tell us who won! Come on. Tell us! Tell Kakashi I have won!"

Lee's face turned bright red and his fists clenched, his legs doing a dance as he looked ready to explode. "The win- the winner is…" Guy's eyes widened and his smiled grew larger.

"Yes? Yes, Lee?!"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

"WHAT?" Guy's jaw plummeted into the earth as tears flew from his eyes. Naruto smiled brightly.

"Yeah! Kakashi-sensei that was awesome!" Naruto nearly jumped up and down. Kakashi only folded his arms, tilted his head and smiled. Suddenly… Flowers. Kakashi looked up at Guy and saw him looking into the distance, away from the gift.

"Take it." Naruto blinked as he saw Kakashi take the flowers slowly. "Seeing as how you are now Hokage, you won't have any time for our rivalry anymore. So I wanted this last competition to be epic. You have earned this gift, my rival." Kakashi only smiled and gave a small laugh.

"Guy. Being Hokage doesn't change anything. You are my rival, and a great friend. If anything, I am going to need this now more than ever. I hope I can count on you to be there and challenge me every step of the way. The thought that you'll be there whenever I need it, is reassuring." Kakashi gave an eye smile. Guy's eyes welled up with tears and his legs gave a similar happy dance that Lee had.

"AaaaaaAAAAAH, Kakashi-kun!" He burst into tears and hugged Kakashi tightly. Naruto was taken aback in shock. What is happening? "You are the… Greatest rival *sniff* EVER!"

Lee also teared up and his neck craned slowly to stare with wide eyes at Naruto. "Oh shit." Lee opened his arms wide.

"Ouch! Sakura! Gentle!" A voice rang out from the apartment. Kakashi rose an eyebrow as he sat in the windowsill. "Why you gotta be so rough all the time?" Kakashi giggled perversely.

"Well if you would just relax you wouldn't tense up. It causes more pain, Naruto." Kakashi rose his hand to his mouth and held in his giggles, his cheeks turning red. He peered into the room to see Sakura bandaging Naruto's ribs. "How did you even get these bruises anyways?" Kakashi sighed in disappointment.

"The flames of youth." Naruto grumbled.

"Oi. Naruto." Kakashi called out. Naruto looked to the window and gave a small wave. Kakashi had changed. He wore a simple black and silver outfit with light padding underneath his Hokage robe, his hat slung on his back.

"We going?" Naruto responded.

"Yeah. Meet at the gate in fifteen minutes. Don't be late." Kakashi poofed out of existence.

"Hypocrite." Naruto mumbled. Sakura only nodded in agreement as she patted the bandages around Naruto, making him yelp.

"You know, you really shouldn't mess with such youthful power Naruto. You're getting too old for that stuff." Sakura teased. Naruto gave her a funny look as he sat up. Old? He reached into his closet and pulled out his jacket and fishnet shirt.

"The youth attacked me." Naruto countered grumpily. He put on his shirt and jacket before reaching under his bed. He pulled out his red, short-sleeved coat that he used in his battle against Pein. Sakura looked at the coat and then at his pants.

"Those really don't match. I don't know how you make it look so heroic." She murmured to herself mostly. Naruto only laughed as he put it on.

"Because I am a hero, Sakura! I make it look good!" He jested. Why did he even try? She gave him a light bump on the head as she smirked.

"Idiot."

"Seriously though, I am going to be Kakashi-sensei's bodyguard in an important Summit. I need to look professional and be on my best behavior-" he continued to ramble on and Sakura only watched as he gathered different things around his room, "and then if something bad happens-"

"You'll save the day?" Naruto paused and looked at her as if she had grown a toe from her forehead.

"No, Sakura. I will not save the day. I will save Kakashi-sensei and get him home. The other Kage can handle that far better than I ever could." Why was he so humble? Sakura blinked in confusion. He had to have known that he was one of the most powerful ninja, right? He just saved his entire village, thousands of people. She smiled. That's just what made him Naruto. Humble, yet confident. Naruto picked up his weapons pouch and looked around for his forehead protector.

"Right here," Sakura lifted the forehead protector so he could grab it, "leave it off your head though!"

"Hm?" Naruto was halfway through tying it on before she said anything. "Why would I do that?" He untied it and brought it down away from his head.

Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up, snatching the protector from his hands. She put her hands under his chin and lifted his head up so that he was looking straight instead of down at her. Placing the protector against his throat, she reached behind his neck and tied it securely. "There!" Naruto looked at her as if he had just been vandalized.

"What did you do to me, Sakura?" He asked worriedly. She rolled her eyes yet again.

"This way it protects your throat." She replied. Naruto adjusted it a tad before looking at her hopelessly. She bit her lip and rocked back and forth on her toes. "And your hair looks cute like that."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head as he tried to the best of his ability to read what was going through that head of hers. Then, a huge smile appeared on his face and he stood straight with some pride. "Like, really cute?" He puffed his chest a bit.

Sakura's eyes lidded halfway. He's pushing his luck. "A bit. You're going to be late." Naruto gave a small nod before jumping out his own window.

"Lock the place up for me!" She shook her head and closed the window before locking it.

Naruto walked alongside Kakashi and Shikamaru, the gates of the Hidden Leaf already having disappeared minutes ago in the distance. He enjoyed the silence of the walk so far. Ever since he had saved the village there was so much praise and love showered onto him all the time. He loved it, for sure, but sometimes it was nice to just walk down this road like old times. Like with Team 7 during their first true mission to the Land of Waves. Or all the roadtrips him and Jiraiya had taken during their training trip.

Naruto bit his lip and looked down at his feet as they walked. He missed Pervy Sage. He wished that the old geezer could see him now. A true ninja. He had defended the Hidden Leaf from one of the strongest that Akatsuki could throw at them. He had stopped someone that no one else in the Leaf could stop. Now he was travelling to one of the most important meetings that will ever take place. Naruto let a small smile appear on his face. This always seemed to happen to Team 7. They always got caught in the most important events. Always caught the attention of some of the most dangerous people.

His smile disappeared. If it weren't for him, the people of the Leaf wouldn't have even been in danger. Would Jiraiya have ever been killed? If he didn't have this demon inside of him, would they all be fighting around him to protect him? With no Kyuubi, his dad would be alive. With no Naruto, Jiraiya would be alive. Was all of this on him? It should be, but no one would see it that way. Naruto did though. Sasuke leaving, he wasn't strong enough to stop him. Hinata nearly died before his very eyes and he hadn't been strong enough without the Kyuubi's rage to do anything about it.

He had just saved an entire village of people, who wouldn't need saving if he had never existed. They would have a Fourth Hokage, a Toad Sage, and now they were stuck with a dumb blonde who put them all into danger. They all fought for him, but he didn't want them to. Naruto looked up at Kakashi to see him talking to Shikamaru, seemingly carefree. The genin looked intently at Shikamaru, who had lost his sensei to the very people that were hunting the demon inside of him. Yet, Shikamaru was always strategizing on how to protect Naruto, always planning on defending him.

"Naruto." The young boy looked over to see his Hokage watching him from over his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed that they had stopped talking. "I forgot to give you something." The tall, white haired man pulled a scroll out of his vest and handed it to Naruto. Naruto looked at it carefully before opening it to see a small summoning seal. He looked up to his sensei only to see him nod, indicating that he wanted Naruto to open it.

The blonde placed his hand over the seal and watched as a vest suddenly appeared in his hands. A… _What?_ Naruto looked back up at Kakashi, who was already slightly ahead. "Kakashi-sensei.." Naruto whispered. He returned his attention to the flak jacket. Kakashi's old jacket.

"You just got promoted. Seemed fitting. A Sage and Hokage's advisor should properly be made a Jounin, don't you think?" Hokage's advisor? Naruto grew a huge ear to ear smile on his face as he nodded at his sensei. That didn't sound so bad.

"Why me as advisor?"

"Simple really, Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted, "he is training you to become Hokage in the future." Naruto gave a small laugh. After everything he was just thinking to himself, and they gotta pull something like this. They just had to make his heart all warm and fuzzy.

"Shikamaru is right. This is less about you knowing more than me, which you do not, and more about training you. Besides, it just means you're closer to me when there is trouble." Naruto nodded.

Naruto took his coat off for a moment before putting the flak jacket on. It fight just right so Kakashi must have had it adjusted. He then placed the coat back over his new uniform, smiling as he finally felt the news hit him. He was a jounin now. It only took him saving everyone!

"It will be a long while before we make it to the Land of Iron. It will be a lot colder there, so it's a good thing we brought coats," Shikamaru started, "with the way things are going, I expect this to be about Akatsuki, but why now? Why such a big meeting now of all times? Surely not just because of the invasion of the Leaf?"

"That definitely plays a part in this meeting," Kakashi replied, "the other nations now realize that they are vulnerable. If the Leaf, debatably the strongest of the villages, was destroyed, then how will they fare when a Pein or a masked member attacks them? Truthfully, there is something very specific that the Raikage wants from this summit. I just don't know whether or not to give it to him." Naruto gave him a curious look.

"What could that be though? What can the Leaf offer him? We've lost everything except for manpower. Could he want an army to fight Akatsuki?" Shikamaru pondered.

"No. That's not quite it. But you are close… He wants an army to fight Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke? "You see. The Raikage believes that Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki. Sasuke attacked the jinchuuriki of the Hidden Cloud and took him. Just like the Akatsuki did with Gaara." Naruto stared at his feet in disbelief. Sasuke? With the Akatsuki. It angered him, and made him sad. Why would he do that?

"That makes no sense." Naruto muttered.

"I believe that you're part of the reason he did it, Naruto." Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a hurt expression on his face. "He knows that it will hurt you. It will hurt you if he takes people like you and kills them. If he took the power of the demons inside of them, it will get to you emotionally. Even when he is so far, he is still toying with you. That is what I believe. Not to mention he has always lusted for power, and the Akatsuki can, in a way, give him that."

"It makes sense. So the Raikage wants not only manpower, but information on Sasuke as well."

"And to make him a nuke-nin." Naruto said, clenching his fists in anger. "Right, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi only nodded.

"Yeah. Though I was able to hold that off until this meeting."

Naruto silently cursed. Sasuke was always doing something stupid. For what? For power. That is all he cared about. Not him, not his friends, not Sakura. Just power. He promised though, promised that he would bring him home. Not just for Sakura, but so that he could have his rival, his friend, home. How would he do that now? "Guess we're really going to have to kick his ass now. Right?" Naruto gave his trademark grin to Kakashi and Shikamaru, who in turn nodded, smiling back.

"Right." They both said in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here it is! Tryna get these out quick, but not so quick that the quantity outweighs the quality. Just putting this out there, I am not a fan of Sasuke. It doesn't make sense that Sasuke leaves the village and does all this stuff and people give him a free pass because he had a hard life. Yeah I mean it sucks but jeez. That being said, I am not going to bash Sasuke. He will be powerful. He will not be an angry, sex addicted, arrogant prick of an Uchiha. There is still some sense in him. You'll just have to read to find out what I have done with him._

 _I hope you enjoy this Chapter, worked a little extra hard on it. Let me know if there are some mistakes or if the dialogue isn't detailed enough or is too boring, anything like that. I can always update and fix some things! Just didn't wanna overload the chapter!_

 _Anyways, onto the story!_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto sat with his legs crossed as Kakashi paced the room. They had stopped at a small village just a short distance away from the summit and Kakashi couldn't stop going over formalities. Shikamaru was currently facepalming whenever Kakashi panicked and made a mistake, while Naruto just laughed at the episode.

"Kakashi, the Mizukage is not a man." Shikamaru had his head in his hands as Kakashi again answered wrong.

"But, Lady Mizukage just feels like too many syllables. Lord Mizukage is so much easier to say." Kakashi argued. Shikamaru sighed. Obviously Kakashi was just dragging this out as a game at this point. In a way though, it proved that the white haired man was nervous.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you really going to wear a mask as Hokage?" Naruto suddenly intervened. Naruto felt as though it would make him seem more professional without the mask, and possibly improve the charismatic portion of relations.

"Yes, Naruto. I am leaving the mask on. Nice try though."

"I am just saying it's gonna look funny on the Hokage monume-"

"Enough!" Shikamaru interrupted. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and his eyes were shut tight. Kakashi's games, Naruto's jabbering jaws, it was just all too much.

The trio had been like this ever since they departed the Leaf Village. There was a hidden aura of stress in the air, but Kakashi always blew it off with his "hip" attitude while Naruto acted dumb to act as a comical relief. Shikamaru wasn't stupid, he knew that Naruto was playing the role as the stupid kid lately. Of course, Naruto was a bit off. He was not dumb in any way though. He may lack the intelligence and book smarts, but he had the wisdom of a Sage and a fighter. An interesting combination for sure.

"Naruto, no playing around when we get to this summit. Use that head of yours and stay alert" Shikamaru stated. Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Kakashi, I know you're trying to get around the stress and seriousness of the situation, but you are the Hokage now. It is time to take it seriously. You of all people should know this."

"Shikamaru," Kakashi started, "you are new to the Team 7 spirit so I'll explain to you." Shikamaru sighed and leaned back onto his elbows. "Team 7 knows when to be serious. We are ninja after all. With everything that happens to us though, we tend to find ways to alleviate the pressure. I am sure you have seen Naruto's attitude at times, looking at his feet and looking lost. The pressure is getting to him. Sasuke, Hero of the Leaf, Sage, Jounin, all of it. To top it off, now we are asking him to be in the presence of four of the most powerful ninjas in the elemental nations, and we expect him to defend me in the case of those four kage getting pissed off."

"I am aware. It's just-"

"You need to know in this business when to take a break, or you will drive yourself insane. Understand? Grab a book." Kakashi motioned to his Make-Out series book. "Play some Shogi. Train endlessly like Naruto does, or eat a ton of ramen." Shikamaru looked at Naruto skeptically. So it wasn't just an insane love for ramen? Stress eating? "So how about a game of Shogi, yeah?"

* * *

Shikaku sighed. He was sat in the Hokage's chair, with most of the rookie 9 in front of his desk. He had a feeling this was coming, but he was hoping it would wait until Kakashi returned. "There is nothing I can do. Sasuke's nuke-nin status has been put on hiatus, which is the best that Kakashi could manage before the summit." He explained.

Sakura nodded in understanding, but didn't look thrilled about it. Ino though, looked confused and upset at the situation. "Lord Shikaku, shouldn't we do something? I mean, he is one of us!"

"He was." Kiba snarled.

Sai just stood there emotionless, but a million thoughts were racing through his mind. "Ino," he said stoically, "Sasuke had plenty of chances to return. He had multiple opportunities to atone for what he has done to Team 7. He has attempted to kill Naruto multiple times and has now joined Akatsuki, an organization that intends to kill Naruto for his power. I don't see why it is a hard decision, and I am surprised that Kakashi hesitated to make this decision. Perhaps he wanted to tell Naruto first."

Ino bit her lip, agreeing with most of what Sai had stated. "Right, and I would die before I let that bastard lay a finger on Naruto." Kiba said. Sakura looked at him with a surprised look, as most of the others nodded in agreement. Shikaku smiled at the loyalty of the ninjas in front of him. They were almost a family.

"Lord Shikaku." Sakura said seriously, standing at attention.

"Yes?"

"Naruto doesn't know?"

Shikaku leaned back and sighed. Surely Kakashi had told him by now on their trip, but he didn't know for sure. "I would believe yes. Kakashi and Naruto have been very close lately, so I believe Kakashi would have told him by now. I do not know for certain." Sakura nodded before turning to leave.

"I won't let Naruto hurt anymore." She whispered to herself.

* * *

Kakashi, Naruto and Shikamaru walked into the meeting room, being the first village to arrive to the summit. Kakashi let his hat hang and took a seat in the second chair from the right side of the table, with the Leaf's banners behind it. "How nice of them to set a seat for me." Kakashi said as he sat. Naruto stood to his left, next to where the Kazekage would be, while Shikamaru took the right, where the Mizukage's banner was.

A beautiful woman with long red hair walked into the room first, with an odd boy with blue hair close behind her. She stopped and looked at the three males momentarily, her mouth hanging open and drool forming as her eyes glittered. The boy behind her formed a pissed off look as he stood in between her and Shikamaru, a glare evident. Naruto only chuckled, Lady Mizukage. Mei was her name?

Next, a small man walked in, followed by a young woman with dark hair and a large man who looked ready to pummel Naruto if he made a move. He sat two seats away from Naruto on the left. Why the glares at him? Naruto wondered. "That is the Kage of the Hidden Stone Village. Onoki. And next to him is his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. They will not like you, Naruto. You look like your father." Kakashi muttered in a small, low voice. Naruto nodded, keeping a wary eye on them.

A familiar, red haired Kazekage walked in next. Naruto immediately smiled. "Gaara." Naruto held his hand out, giving his friend a handshake.

"Naruto." Gaara said before returning the smile and the handshake. The Kazekage sat in the seat in between Naruto and the Hidden Stone.

Lastly, a large, dark skinned man with blonde dreads walked into the room. He immediately glared at the Leaf crew, which in turn warily stared back. "And that is the man who wants Sasuke dead." Kakashi stated. Naruto nodded.

A cough was heard to grab the Kage's attention, and they all looked to the front of the room to see a samurai. "I am Mifune, your mediator. While at this summit, you will not show any signs of hostility to other Kage or my samurai will intervene and the summit will be over. While the meeting is active, each Kage will voice their opinions and listen to the others. If carelessness is shown, the Kage will be forced to leave and the summit will be over. This is to be taken seriously and you must listen to each other's opinions and suggestions. Clear?"

"Crystal." Kakashi stated as the other Kage nodded.

The Raikage stood up. "As you all know, this summit was called due to the rising threat of the Akatsuki. This organization has threatened our villages, destroyed others, and stolen our demon containers. This has not only been a threat and hostile act, but has endangered the nations as a whole." Naruto frowned at being called a demon container, but the man was technically correct. No matter how much he disliked the term, it was what they were. Jinchuuriki.

"Not only this," the Tsuchikage said, "but this has left the village's powers unbalanced. The only villages with jinchuuriki are now the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf. This is a major disadvantage-"

"This is not about power, Lord Tsuchikage," Gaara interrupted, "this is about keep all of our villages safe, and with the Akatsuki present in our lands, none of us our."

"Well how can we keep our villages safe with jinchuuriki being kept by the Cloud and Leaf? We have no power to match it!"

"Our jinchuuriki does not rely on the power of the Kyuubi. He relies on his own power and refuses to use the fox as an advantage. The only reason you should fear him is because he could beat any of you on any given day with his own power." Kakashi said. The other Kage grit their teeth while Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara smiled. "So you, Onoki, have nothing to worry about." Kakashi obviously took the Tsuchikage's words in offense. He had, after all, insulted his student.

"Mind your words, Sharingan Kakashi, we all know you are not as strong as we are." The Raikage stated.

"No, you are probably right. I am not the one you should worry about. Can we continue with the real problem here?" Kakashi sighed, this was impossible. They got under his skin too easily. He needed to calm down.

The Kage all leaned back in their chairs and took a deep breath. The Mizukage sat with her chin leaning on her laced fingers. While Gaara had his arms folded, but the cork of his sand gourd was open. The Kage were threatening, raising their chakra levels and preparing themselves for the worst. Kakashi nudged Naruto, making the blonde nod. Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed as the meeting went on.

"The real problem here is Sasuke Uchiha." The Raikage said.

"How is he the real problem?" Kakashi asked.

The Raikage gave a menacing look. "He has kidnapped my brother. Killer B. Our jinchuuriki. He did so in Akatsuki uniform. By now, B is most likely dead and the Uchiha needs to be brought to justice."

"Tch. Uchiha used to be of the Leaf," Onoki started, "funny how everything seems to start with the Hidden Leaf, yeah?"

Kakashi kept his cool and leaned onto the arm of his chair. He chose to ignore the Tsuchikage. "We heard this from your team you sent. We are aware of what Sasuke has done. Please know, Raikage, that we are concerned as well. Akatsuki now has eight of the nine demons if this is the case."

"Yes yes I know. But I don't just want Akatsuki, I want Sasuke Uchiha dead!" The Raikage finished by pounding his fis

The room grew silent as the Raikage seethed in anger. "Perhaps," the Mizukage began, "the Kyuubi jinchuuriki should not be in the Leaf's possession. That will fix one problem."

"That fixes nothing." Kakashi interrupted. He wouldn't let them take Naruto, there would be war before that happened.

"As for Uchiha, it is simple. We kill him. He is of Akatsuki now."

"It is not that simple," Gaara said, "all you would do by sending the PERSON who holds the Kyuubi away is make it easy for the Akatsuki to attain the Nine Tails power. As for Sasuke, the Akatsuki is not going to give him up, and I doubt any of you are powerful enough to take on any upper member of the Akatsuki."

"How insulting." The Mizukage stated.

"I believe you are underestimating-" Onoki began.

"I believe you are overestimating yourselves and underestimating the enemy." Naruto stated sternly. The Kage all turned to him, angered by the interruption. When they did, they were all surprised to see his pupils formed as a horizontal line, and an almost orange shadow around his eyes. A Sage. "If you think you can just walk past the Akatsuki leaders and kill Sasuke. You are just plain stupid. All I see here is a bunch of idiotic warmongers."

"He is not a Kage, Kakashi. Please silence him." Mifune stated.

"I think you should let him talk," Kakashi argued, "he is after all, the Toad Sage, and the Slayer of Pein." The room grew silent. "Naruto Uzumaki. The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

The Kage all stared at Naruto skeptically, the Mizukage looked a bit nervous, while the Tsuchikage eyed him intensely. The Raikage just looked angry. "Who are you, boy?" Onoki muttered.

"He just said who I am. But if it helps…" Naruto began. Kakashi held his hand up.

"Hold on, Naruto. This meeting is going nowhere. We have sat at this table and argued with no results. If you threaten me again, I will have Naruto retaliate. And I have no doubt in my mind that Naruto will win." Kakashi said.

"How dare-"

A strange aura filled the room, forcing the Kage to silence themselves. Tension built as the Kages all slowly stood up, the bodyguards stepping forward to protect their leaders. Mifune narrowed his eyes at the whirl of time and space that seemed to appear as Kakashi's eye widened. Kamui? A masked man appeared out of the whirl, almost as though he came through a portal. "Hello, Kages of the Elemental Nations."

Naruto glared intently at the man. He had a feeling. His father had definitely given him hints as to who this man was. He would keep silent though, he didn't want to be wrong. The other Kage stood tall, their chakra spiking. "Who the hell are you?" The Raikage growled.

"Me? Oh, I am nobody special. Just here to tell you all of my plans. You know. The usual. I have come to warn you, and help you see reason. That boy," he pointed to Naruto, "will be given to me, or I will destroy all of you and take him."

"Over my dead body." Kakashi stated.

"That is the plan, Kakashi." The masked man replied. Naruto took a step forward.

"I think we are all in agreement for the first time today when I say… Fuck off." Naruto growled.

"I agree. You really think you can take on all of us?" The Raikage laughed. "You are sorely mistaken."

"In this state, you are correct. I cannot. Which is why I have just come to talk. You really are a loudmouth, Uzumaki. You see, I have a plan. A plan to bring peace to the Elemental Nations and to the world of ninjas. A plan to use a massive genjutsu that will force all of humanity to obey my will of peace."

"That is not peace," Naruto argued, "that is dictating the world. That is the opposite of peace. They will have no choice. That is not the true definition of peace."

"Then what is, Uzumaki? Can you really have peace when choice exists? War is always a choice, and humanity will wage war when they feel that they will lose with words. This plan is called the Eye of the Moon. With it, I will unleash an Infinite Tsukuyomi to place all of humanity under a Genjutsu. So, my proposition again. Hand over the Nine Tails and Eight Tails, and I will unleash my plan without a war breaking out."

"What do you mean the Eight Tails? You already have him!" Raikage shouted.

"Unfortunately, the Uchiha failed in capturing the Eight Tails."

Naruto sighed in relief. He wasn't alone.

"I am afraid I must go. But I left a gift for you." Naruto's eyes widened as he felt the presence. His presence. He felt his chakra.

"Kakashi. Sasuke is here!" Naruto immediately burst out of the room.

"Wait! Naruto!" Shikamaru chased after him.

"We will continue this later!" The Raikage shouted as he turned away, his bodyguards following.

Mifune nodded. "The meeting will continue after the threat of Akatsuki is cleared out of the area! Dismissed!"

* * *

Naruto ran after Sasuke. Where was he going? They had just raced outside, and Naruto was catching up. They stopped in a large clearing, a half frozen river between them and a waterfall a hundred meters away. "I was expecting Danzo." Sasuke said loudly. Silence ensued as Naruto stared at his old friend. His old rival. After all that this old friend had done, Naruto felt like he didn't want Sasuke back.

"I am sorry to disappoint, Sasuke." Naruto turned around to see Kakashi walking up beside him. Shikamaru was close behind.

"Sasuke," Naruto began, "I-" He paused. No. He didn't like feeling the chakra he sensed. Sakura.

He watched as Sakura landed a couple dozen yards from them. She stared intently at Sasuke. What the hell was she doing? Team 7 now stood only a short distance from each other. Staring at the others. "Sakura," Naruto called out, "back off." Sakura shot him a glare. Had he really just said that? "You are going to get hurt, trust me."

Sakura tuned out his words and immediately charged after Sasuke, aiming a chakra enhanced punch right at his head. Naruto grit his teeth. "You have got to be kidding me right now." He grunted as he charged in as well.

As Sakura's fist almost connected, Sasuke slightly moved his head to the side with ease before his arm raised from his hip, a ninjato in hand. Sakura's eyes widened, she was still in the air and couldn't dodge. She saw a hand interrupt the strike as it hit Sasuke's arm to the side. She watched as Naruto closed the space in between his two teammates. Naruto countered the ninjato strike with a quick jab to Sasuke's stomach, causing the Uchiha to wince and back up. "Here we go then." Naruto said as he saw Sasuke zoom in with his sword cocked back. Naruto sprinted a couple steps forward before sliding on his knees under a slash, striking his elbow into Sasuke's knee as he slid past. Sasuke grunted in pain before turning around and sending a roundhouse kick Naruto's way. Naruto was getting up as he saw Sasuke's foot quickly approaching, he held up his arm beside his head and blocked the kick, but still felt the power behind it, causing the blonde roll to the side away from the impact to try and absorb the blow.

Sasuke sheathed his ninjato and held his wrist, a Chidori forming in his hands. Naruto listened to the crackle of lightning, the sound of a thousand birds. " _Every time we have faced, I used the Rasengan to counter. The Chidori is a failed lightning elemental version of the Rasengan, so they are nearly equal in power. To counter this, I am going to have to get a little risky or this fight will go the same as it does every time."_

"Alright then, Sasuke." Naruto murmured as Sasuke charged forward, his Chidori ready to strike. Naruto bounced on his toes as Sasuke grew closer, not forming a Rasengan or preparing a jutsu. Sakura and Kakashi both gasped as Sasuke got closer. Right before the Chidori got close enough to pierce Naruto, he ducked diagonally, dodging the attack while simultaneously getting closer to Sasuke. Now he was too close for Sasuke to use Chidori, he was in between the jutsu and the user. As he was ducked, Naruto kicked at Sasuke's legs, causing the Uchiha to jump over the attack and his jutsu to dispel. Sasuke's eyes immediately widened as he felt a leg land a kick into his back.

"Oldest trick in the book, Sasuke." Naruto gloated. Sasuke landed into the ground hard, and looked back to see another Naruto land after delivering the blow. Shadow Clone. Sasuke seethed. He wouldn't fall for that trick again. That was a sloppy encounter. It was time to step it up a notch and quit playing around with taijutsu.

Naruto decided that he didn't want to waste his time with this. As much as he hated it, there were more important matters to attend to at the summit. He sighed and made a clone hand seal and two clones appeared beside him. The original shadow clone stepped forward to defend Naruto as the other two controlled the chakra in his hand as he started making a Rasen-shuriken. "Sasuke. You're still the same as when you left the Leaf. All you care for is power. I do not have time for you anymore. I do not have the bond with you that was present all those years ago. The bond is broken, Sasuke. That ninjato was aimed for Sakura's heart. The very thing that loves you, you aimed to stab. I cannot forgive you for that. I cannot forgive you for joining an organization that is intent on hunting me down for what is inside of me." The Rasen-shuriken was building up, almost ready. "Whether you joined Akatsuki to spite me, or to gain more power, I don't know. Frankly, Sasuke, I don't care."

The Uchiha stared intensely at Naruto, the Sharingan eyes holding anger and almost a look of betrayal in them. The dead last had no bond, huh? Fine by him. Even if a part of him was disappointed, another part of him was angry, alone. "You are not so hopeless after all, Naruto." Sasuke said. "Finally, you understand a little of-"

"You're wrong. I don't understand. I don't understand why you would kill the only people who have ever cared for you just so that you can achieve power. The only thing I can think of, is that you're just too much of a bitch to handle the responsibility of being a true ninja." Sasuke roared in anger and took a step forward. He stopped and his eyes widened as he saw Naruto throw a highly concentrated, advanced rasengan in his direction. It grew closer and Sasuke started to bend his legs to jump out of the way. He wasn't fast enough. Suddenly, a rip in time and space appeared in front of him, as the masked man walked up beside him. The rip absorbed the Rasen-shuriken and took it into another dimension. Sasuke growled. He had needed help, he wouldn't have been able to dodge that. He should've used Susano'o sooner.

"Sorry for the interruption. I had to intervene before you killed my associate over here." Naruto frowned. "That was stupid of you Sasuke, you were cocky. You underestimated Naruto immensely. Honestly, even if you didn't, you aren't anywhere near strong enough to beat him while he is in his Sage mode. You would know that, but your arrogance made you believe that you could. You should have made him spend his Sage chakra before you really engaged yourself into a fight with him." Sasuke frowned at the thought of being lectured. It angered him further knowing that the man was right.

"Sasuke." Naruto said it normally, but it echoed throughout the clearing. Sakura, Shikamaru and Kakashi watched on as the blonde confronted his ex-rival. "If you ever step within sight of my team again, I will kill you." Sakura frowned as the sound of the river suddenly sounded more intense, as if it were roaring at the tension in the air. "If you ever try to hurt Sakura, if you ever come near the Leaf, if you ever test my patience, I will end you. Permanently." Sakura began to tear up as she heard the sincerity in the blonde's voice. He sounded hurt, but his words rang true.

"Sakura." Naruto called out. Sakura looked up to see Naruto still looking straight at Sasuke. "Go home." She heard a slight crack in his voice. Disappointment? Sorrow? He was upset. Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder and motioned her back to Shikamaru.

She was almost out of earshot when she heard it next.

"If we face each other again, Sasuke. You felt it during that fight didn't you? You know. I know. We both know. It'll be the end of us both."

 _No._ Sakura felt the tears flow now as Shikamaru led her away from the battlefield. Kakashi just sighed in disappointment of himself as Sasuke and the masked man departed. This felt like his fault. He was the sensei. He then looked at Naruto, his red cloak and black headband flowing in the wind. Naruto made everything better though. He made Kakashi proud. After seeing him fight Sasuke just then, it was confirmed in Kakashi's mind. It was set in stone. Naruto was on a whole new level. He had no doubt that Naruto could bring a true peace to the ninja world.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto leaned against the window of the Hokage's office as Sakura stood in the middle of the room. Both were looking at Kakashi as he was signing a couple last minute papers. Tension filled the air and Sakura winced every time she heard an intake of breath. She was waiting to get chewed out any minute by Kakashi for going to the Land of Iron and charging in against Sasuke like that. It was foolish, she knew. She didn't want Naruto to have this burden anymore, and killing Sasuke would have fixed it. It also would have kept Sasuke from getting any darker than he already was.

Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking back to the Kage Summit. The second half of it wasn't so tense and they were able to communicate well, but in the end no agreement was made. In fact, the Tsuchikage seemed even more hostile than before the Summit. Kakashi handled it all well, but in Naruto's opinion he came to his defense too much. It made the Sage feel like a burden to his sensei.

Kakashi sighed, and Sakura winced. Here it comes. "Sakura-"

"How could you do something so reckless?" Naruto interrupted. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth in a frown. His voice sounded like growl to Kakashi, but to Sakura it was like glass cutting across her ear drums. She knew Kakashi would be disappointed, but to hear it from Naruto was a whole other thing. "I get it, you love him. I really get it, Sakura. But you can't bring him back, he would have killed you if I hadn't stopped that attack!" She didn't want him back. She wanted him gone. She didn't want him to exist.

"I wasn't trying to bring him back." Sakura whispered. Her voice sounded broken and fragile. It was a complete 180 from Naruto's.

"You're right! You were trying to get yourself killed!"

"Enough, Naruto." Kakashi intervened. While Naruto was right, he needed to understand that Sakura was just doing what she thought was right. She only had good intentions, however poorly planned and thought out they were. "Sakura. You shouldn't have done that, but I understand." Sakura's eyes widened, as did Naruto's.

"Naruto," Kakashi switched topics, "the mediator of the Summit, Mifune, wishes to speak to you at some point this week. He will be arriving in a day or two. I will summon you when he arrives. Also, I have just made it official that you are a Jounin of the Hidden Leaf, and a Sage. This means you are able to come and go as you please." Naruto nodded, but it wasn't as if he was going to leave often. "Just make sure you report to me before you go so that I know when you are gone."

"You got it." Naruto opened the window and sat on the ledge for a moment. "Sakura.." He muttered. Sakura looked at him hesitantly, and watched as his eyes almost looked as though they were ready to spill tears. "Don't scare me like that again." She quickly looked away but nodded. She had scared him. That was why he had been harsh. Naruto leapt off into the reconstructing village below.

Kakashi sighed. "Dismissed." He mumbled. His team was far too troublesome. Shikamaru entered the room as Sakura exited. "Ah, Shikamaru. How are you?"

"Enigmatic."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You are… Enigmatic?"

"Yeah. If I thought about it for awhile I could tell you, but that would take too much effort to understand my own emotions. So my emotions are enigmatic to even myself at the moment. Such a drag, honestly. Emotions are such a waste to stress over." Kakashi sweatdropped. This was a whole new level of lazy.

* * *

Naruto lifted up a box as an elderly civilian woman repeatedly thanked him. He again nodded to the woman with a smile as he carried the box inside the newly built home. Some civilians were still returning to the village, as they had left to other small villages to family while the village was under construction. Yamato had helped to quickly rebuild homes, while civilians worked hard continuously.

He gave the woman a small wave as he leaped off towards his own apartment. He needed to rest after the events of the Land of Iron. He was disappointed in the way the meeting had gone. Sasuke was declared a rogue ninja, which didn't bother him too much, but more than he would have liked. The Tsuchikage was stubborn and didn't agree to any solution the Kage's made. The only cooperative Kages were Gaara and the Mizukage, Mei. She, however, seemed to have other… Motives. Naruto gulped nervously.

Those two, along with Kakashi, decided they would work together to gather information and fight against the Akatsuki, setting up a three village Alliance called the Southern Trident. This was due to the three villages being the southernmost of the Elemental nations. It wasn't enough in Naruto's opinion, but it was better than nothing. The Stone Village and Cloud Village were far too stubborn, and neither accepted an alliance with the others. Naruto figured they would be the first to fall, or they would be completely left alone.

The Mizukage would be arriving within a couple weeks with some of her council, along with Gaara with some of his, to set up the terms of the Alliance. For now, everyone just wanted to go home and make sure their people were safe. Naruto frowned. There were far more important issues than this, however.

…

Like, when the hell was his ramen gonna be done? Naruto looked into the microwave angrily, seeing that there was still a minute and a half left. It was only halfway done? What the hell? Naruto growled and sat down on his counter in frustration. He swore that one day he would make a ramen that would be cooked in under a minute… No! Instant Ramen! "Yeah!" Naruto's tongue stuck out as he started panting like a dog at the thought. All he would have to do is seal a ton of ramen into a scroll, then he could just take some out and eat it whenever he wanted! "Kami please help me on this quest of eternal peace for all stomachs across the Elemental Nations!"

"Really, Naruto?" A voice rang out as Naruto panicked and hit his head on the cabinets above him, causing him to fall off the counter.

"Gah! Sakura! I was just uh… H-how did you get in?"

Sakura held up keys in her hand. "You gave me these before you left, remember?" She offered them to him as he lied on the floor but he shook his head.

"Keep em, my house is your house." He heard the microwave beep and quickly got to his feet. Sakura was taken aback a bit by the comment, but watched silently as he gather the necessary items for his ramen. She watched as he gathered different spices and delicately applied them to his meal. Only Naruto would make 3-minute ramen seem like a gourmet meal.

"Well then I guess we should have some real changes around here if it's my home too." Sakura teased. Naruto looked up at her with a funny face, ramen stuffed into his mouth.

"Whagumean?" He asked with his mouthful. Sakura wasn't quite sure what that meant but turned to the bedroom.

"So maybe pink sheets instead? Also I would like a picture of Lady Tsunade and me here on this wall. You can take this one down." Naruto sweatdropped as she watched him go through his room. He couldn't let this happen. "Is this porn?" Naruto immediately yelled and sprinted at godly speeds, snatching the magazines and books from her.

"It was Pervy Sage! He gave them to me for my birthday I didn't want them and he just left them here and I didn't know what to do with them! Don't murder me!" He cowered and awaited a punch.

"Idiot." Sakura held out the keys again. "Change your mind?" Naruto gave a playful glare.

"No. You can keep the keys, but it is MY house. U-zu-ma-ki household. I will write it on the door or something." Naruto turned to retrieve his ramen only to find that he had spilt it in his panic. Sakura covered her ears. "NOOOOOOOOO-"

* * *

Shikamaru and Kakashi continued to go over paperwork, the most recent were mostly things to do with the Southern Trident Alliance. Kakashi had found himself shortening it to STA in a lot of his papers-

Wait…

"Shikamaru, could we perhaps change it to Southern Trident… Division?" Kakashi suggested. Shikamaru just gave him an incredulous look before shaking his head.

"Troublesome."

A knock interrupted Kakashi's brilliant plans. "Enter." Kakashi said clearly and with authority. Mifune, the mediator of the Summit and leader of the Samurai, entered the room.

"Lord Sixth Hokage, I have come to speak with you and Naruto."

Kakashi nodded. "Naruto has only had about a day of rest since we returned to the village, is it urgent?" The samurai shook his head no. "Very well, we will discuss whatever you have for us tomorrow then. Shikamaru?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"Take the day off." Shikamaru gave him a skeptical look. "I promise, no STD will come during your absence." Kakashi eye smiled. Shikamaru groaned at the ridiculous, muttering something about troublesome Team 7 as he exited the room. Mifune just stood in place with a raised eyebrow.

"I will find a place to stay, tomorrow at sundown?" Mifune asked. Kakashi nodded. "Good day, Lord Sixth." Mifune turned and exited the room, leaving Kakashi alone.

"Now, how long would it take me to change all of the A's to D's?" He wondered.

* * *

It had been a few days of rest for the young Sage. The village was calm and the people in it were happy. Naruto approached the Hokage tower, Sakura and Shikamaru walked beside him in light conversation with each other. Naruto wasn't really listening though. He was wondering what the Samurai would want to talk about. Could it be about the Summit? Was he too disrespectful? He knew he was but he hoped that wasn't what this was about. He would like to remain alive.

"Naruto!" The blonde turned to see two young academy students sprinting towards him. Naruto tilted his head as the two stopped, breathing heavily like they had just run to the Hidden Sand and back. Shikamaru and Sakura stopped, watching the scene from a bit away.

"Um… What is it?" Naruto asked, slightly confused as to what the boys were in such a rush for. The shorter one with brown hair smiled brightly, he was wearing an orange shirt with blue pants, and a ninja pouch that seemed to have rocks in it.

"Well, you see… Can I have your autograph?" He held up a pen and fine linen paper. Naruto's eyes widened and watched as the other one, a taller dark haired boy with a white t-shirt and shorts held up the same materials. Shikamaru only shook his head with a slight smile while Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Naruto mumbled. He felt a bit uncomfortable around this kind of attention. He wasn't used to being so loved around the village. "What are your names?" He asked.

"I am Kyza!" The shorter one exclaimed proudly. "Kyza Inuzuka!"

"I am Po." The taller one stated simply.

"Po?" Naruto asked curiously. A little odd but nothing crazy. It was more of the way the young boy said it. So lazy and almost emotionless.

"His real name is Pomaru Nara, but everyone calls him Po. He doesn't like to say his full name because it takes too long." Kyza informed. Naruto's eye twitched a bit. Yep. Definitely a Nara.

Naruto signed his name on the two papers and the boys still stood there. Kyza was smiling and the Nara was just standing beside him. "Um-" Naruto began.

"Can you show us your Rasengan? Did you beat Pein with it? How did you throw a jutsu like that? Can you teach us how to summon frogs? What about the cloak? Can I have one? Where did you get it? It is so cool! Are you gonna be Hokage? Could you kick other Hokage's butts?" The Inuzuka kept rambling on and on with all of the questions. Sakura giggled and Shikamaru just gave a short chuckle. Naruto on the other hand looked lost and confused. He had to go, but he wasn't one to disappoint.

"Well," Naruto began, causing Shikamaru to groan, "I can show you the Rasengan I suppose." Naruto held out his hands and started to form a small Rasengan in his palm.

"Whoooooaaaa!" Kyza's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.

"I did beat Pein with it. I used different variations of this same technique. I used Giant Rasengan, the Rasen-shuriken, along with some others I invented. It is a very tough technique to master. As of now, only three ninjas in all of the Elemental Nations can use it. Me, Kakashi-sensei, and Konohamaru." The boys soaked in the information and their respect for Naruto only grew.

"I threw the technique by using my Sage mode to condense the chakra before throwing it. The shuriken shape is so sharp and condensed that it is almost a physical form of chakra, allowing me to throw it. It propels itself forward by spinning at speeds naked to the human eye." Naruto explained. Sakura and Shikamaru both "hmph" in response. That was actually one of the smartest things they have ever heard Naruto say.

"As for the other questions. I will be Hokage. Believe it." Naruto said softly, ruffling both the kids' hairs before turning towards the Hokage tower. "Take care you two!" He called out.

Sakura and Shikamaru quickly followed along beside him, looking back at the two boys. Sakura looked over at Naruto with a new admiration and respect. He was so good with them, even when he was pressed for time. It looked like he loved explaining his abilities to the children. He was proud of what he has accomplished and loved sharing it, while many ninja kept their secrets for power purposes. Naruto wasn't worried though. Smiles were more important to him.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura?" Naruto smiled back at her as they approached the front door to the tower.

"Are you going to have kids?" Naruto froze on the spot as the two walked by him. Shikamaru was also surprised at the question.

"Kids are too troublesome Naruto, don't answer that question." Shikamaru intervened. Sakura shot him a glare.

"He was really good with them! I was just curious!"

"That scenario implies that a wife is involved and women are too troublesome to handle. It isn't worth it."

"What did you say, punk!?"

Naruto only smiled at the bickering. He had assumed for some weird reason that Sakura was asking him because of… other things. "I don't know. I don't think I am able to have the luxury anymore. Sage and all, ya know?" Naruto opened the door and walked inside. That statement made both Shikamaru and Sakura a bit sad. It was kind of true. He would always be so busy, especially if Kakashi was grooming him to become Hokage. He wouldn't have time for kids, or even a wife really.

The trio walked into the office and saw couches in front of the Hokage's desk. Mifune sat on one and the other was empty. Sakura and Shikamaru took the empty couch and Naruto opted to lean against the usual window. Just the way Jiraiya did. "Hope you like the seating. Standing doesn't really fit my personality." Kakashi said with a smile.

"I'm not complaining. I'm comfortable." Shikamaru leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Shall we begin?" Kakashi motioned to Mifune.

"Right," the samurai began, "Naruto Uzumaki, I am appointing you as Commander of my me and my Samurai in this war against the Akatsuki." The whole room grew silent as the Leaf Ninja, including the Hokage, all dropped their jaws at the news. "I will be teaching you to fight with a sword, the art of kenjutsu. They will respect you a lot more if you know some of their ways."

"Wait, hold on," Kakashi interrupted, "you are giving him your forces?"

"Yes," Mifune responded, "he has proven to me that he is a more than capable ninja who can truly bring peace to this world. He stood up to the masked man and handled the situations thrown at him well."

Naruto stayed silent. This was unreal. "Also, I have heard the stories. Slayer of Pein? Hero of the Leaf? The Last Sage." Naruto looked down at the last title. The Last Sage? He thought about it. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both dead and Tsunade was in a coma. At the moment, he was the only Sage. "You have a gift to make others rally to you, Naruto Uzumaki. The Land of Waves, the Hidden Sand, the Mizukage trusts you. If you are to beat the Akatsuki, then you must use every resource at your disposal. I am offering you my men, my brothers. Will you take care of them?"

Naruto looked Mifune straight in the eyes. This man was entrusting him with a lot, and he would not fail him. "You don't have to worry about a thing. They will be treated like my own kin. Believe it." He stated seriously. Kakashi still sat in silence, and Sakura still had her mouth open. Shikamaru just watched the samurai with a curious expression.

"Very well. I will be talking to your Hokage about some of the details. I will send half of my army to the Hidden Leaf within the next month. I trust you will take care of them."

As the samurai bowed and took his leave, Kakashi looked over to Naruto. The blonde looked even more stressed, his gaze over the village below them as he looked out the window. The room was quiet, and the Hokage could tell that both Shikamaru and Sakura could feel the aura around Naruto as well. The boy was becoming a legend, but they never considered what being a legend might do to a person. Everyone was looking to him.

Naruto himself had never felt more lost in his life. His ultimate goal was always to be Hokage. To be acknowledged. Now, his goals were to protect the entire world. To lead armies. To become the most powerful ninja alive. Hokage seemed almost like an afterthought. A storm was brewing, and Naruto felt as though he didn't have an umbrella. He didn't have shelter. All he could do was make his own lightning and shoot back. Lightning?

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto spoke. Kakashi nodded in response. "Raikiri. Can you teach it to me?" The Sharingan-wielder tapped his desk in thought. Naruto did not have a Sharingan, which was something Kakashi relied on to use the technique. It required you to be extremely fast, and not any ordinary ninja could do it. Naruto was not ordinary.

"Normally, I would say it was impossible without the Sharingan. It is a very fast assassination technique that relies on speed and certain abilities the Sharingan offers to function correctly." Kakashi stated. Naruto nodded, his hopes dropped at the information. "However, with Sage mode, you might just be able to pull it off." Kakashi finished. Naruto smiled brightly at his sensei. They could at least try and make it work.

"Meet me at our old training grounds tomorrow morning. You can come along too, Sakura. We'll see what we can accomplish." Sakura nodded, a serious look on her face. "Shikamaru, since you are my advisor anyway, you should come too. Welcome to the team." Kakashi smiled. Shikamaru only groaned and leaned back to take a nap.

The trio sat in silence as Kakashi was going over his paperwork. Naruto was getting impatient and tapped his knuckles against the glass repeatedly. The boredom and frustration of sitting still was evident on Naruto's face. After everything that had happened lately, the lack of events seemed out of place. "Ugh!" Naruto groaned as he leaned back against the windowsill.

"Naruto," Kakashi began as he signed another paper, "if you are that bored of holding still, practice gathering your natural energy. That way you can achieve Sage mode faster." Naruto sat up. Faster? Does it work that way? He nodded before sitting down and focusing on the energy around him. It was better than waiting. That is certain.

"Kakashi-sensei, what exactly does Sage mode allow Naruto to do?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I am not really sure," Kakashi replied, "but from what I have learned over time, Sage mode allows Naruto to sense all the energies and chakras around him, making it a great sensor technique. He was able to sense you before you arrived to the battlefield, and would have sensed you a lot sooner if he wasn't occupied with Sasuke."

"From what I can tell," he continued, "it also allows him to control his chakra in precise ways. Ways that he would not be able to control without Sage mode. Reason being, his sage mode chakra is limited, while his own chakra is at such a high level that it is difficult to control. Not to mention that Sage mode chakra is a lot easier to control in general. A lot more powerful too."

As he finished explaining, Naruto opened his eyes. "There we go. Looks cool, huh?" Naruto smiled cheekily. Sakura only shook her head but smiled.

"It's a lot more attractive on you than it is on Lord Jiraiya." Kakashi stated. The three ninjas in the room all looked at him funny. Naruto suddenly blanched and backed up to a wall across the room.

"Why do you always make it weird?!" Naruto shouted as he curled up into a ball. Kakashi chuckled nervously before standing up to comfort his student.

"Well, you see Naruto. It isn't what you think. Really."

"No NO NO! Stay away! You pervert! DIDDLER!" Naruto screamed in agony as Kakashi tried to calm the situation.

Sakura and Shikamaru only watched in disbelief as the two elite ninja acted like children.

* * *

"Alright. Remember how you invented the Rasen-shuriken, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded. The team was in the old Team 7 training grounds. Kakashi had made a shadow clone to teach both Sakura and Shikamaru while his real version handled Naruto. "Good. Essentially, this is the same thing. You need to learn how to tune into your Lightning affinity. Once you do this, you apply it to your Rasengan, the same way you did with your wind affinity."

Naruto nodded, but… "How do I learn to use my lightning affinity?" Kakashi expected this.

"With wind, you split a leaf to be introduced to the affinity. Your natural affinity was wind, however. So lightning is going to be more difficult, but not impossible," Kakashi said, "you will not be splitting a leaf, but rather you will be wrinkling the leaf." Naruto rose an eyebrow and grabbed a leaf from the ground. Kakashi wasn't finished explaining, but watched in amusement as the blonde tried to channel lightning energy into the leaf. The leaf split in half.

"Eh?" Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a confused look on his face. Kakashi gave him another leaf and stepped back.

"You can't just channel your chakra in it the same way you did with wind. Wind felt natural to your chakra because it is your affinity. Lightning, however, is not your affinity. It will feel foreign to your chakra, and it will feel different than wind. You need to know what it feels like, so that you can use it."

"Kind of like muscles?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes. Like muscles. It will become easier over time to use lightning because of 'muscle memory'."

"But then how do I know what it feels like for the first time?" Naruto tapped his finger against his chin in thought.

" _That's it Naruto, think."_ Kakashi thought. He'll get it. He knew he would.

"Ah!" Naruto raised his finger to point at Kakashi.

"Figure it out?" Kakashi asked, proudly.

"Hit me with Raikiri!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What." Kakashi deadpanned. Not what he was expecting.

"I'll go into Sage mode, then I can sense your chakra nature when you use the Raikiri! That way I can tell what it feels like!" Naruto explained happily.

Kakashi just narrowed his eye in disbelief. "I am not going to hit you with an assassination technique Naruto. It assassinates." Naruto gave him a funny look. Well duh. That is what Raikiri was for. "As in it would kill you."

"Oh, right. Forgot." Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled cheekily. "Well, maybe just bring it near me so that I can try and feel it? Or something?"

Kakashi sighed. "Feels like cheating. But fine, let's see what happens." Kakashi lifted his headband and activated Raikiri, bringing it close to Naruto as the blonde focused on activating Sage mode.

Naruto opened his eyes, an orange tint around his eyelids. "It feels… Exciting." Naruto muttered. Kakashi smiled. This could actually work. "It feels almost like it is alive, the same energy that flows through us, but on a smaller scale." Kakashi deactivated the technique and stepped back.

"Think you can wrinkle the leaf based just on that?" He asked. Naruto's face contorted into a questioning look as he took the leaf in his hand and tried applying the chakra differently.

"Maybe if I can apply the energy to my chakra?" The leaf wrinkled instantly into a little ball smaller than Naruto's fingertips. Kakashi's eye widened. That was quick, and powerful.

"Well well. That worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly." Kakashi stated. It was a brilliant idea by Naruto. While maybe not the traditional way to learn new affinities, it was a smart idea. He truly was a talented ninja. Naruto smiled.

"So, Raikiri?" Naruto asked excitedly. Kakashi nodded.

"You know what a Raikiri is, correct?"

"Somewhat." Naruto shrugged.

"Raikiri is an advanced version of the Chidori. It is quieter, more precise, stronger and takes more chakra control. In order to learn Raikiri, you need to learn Chidori." Naruto nodded in understanding."Chidori was my attempt to infuse my lightning affinity into the Rasengan. So hopefully, while learning Chidori, you can learn to make something stronger. While it would not be the Chidori or Raikiri, it can be potentially much stronger. Your wind infused Rasengan made the Rasen-shuriken. Let's see what lightning does, yeah?" Naruto nodded excitedly.

"Right!" Naruto shouted as he made the clone hand seal, creating around a hundred shadow clones. "Same training type?" Kakashi gave a thumbs up.

"Yup! Let's get to work!"

* * *

Shikamaru and Sakura both breathed heavily as the Kakashi clone watched on. Shikamaru was working on building his chakra reserves while Sakura was trying to learn the chakra scalpels technique that Kabuto Yakushi used. She wasn't even close so far, but she was learning. "Sakura, that isn't nearly sharp enough to inflict enough damage. You would maybe at most bruise them." Kakashi stated. Sakura growled but tried to refine her control. This was hopeless, Kabuto was the only one who could use this technique. Kakashi was trying his best but even he was limited in how he could teach it. She would have to think outside the box. "Maybe we should try something I actually know?" Kakashi suggested. Sakura shot him a glare, causing him to be silent.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was constantly chasing another Kakashi clone with his shadow techniques. It was pushing him to his limit, but every time he nearly gave up he remembered how he wasn't able to hold Hidan long when Asuma was killed. He had to grow stronger if he was going to defend Kakashi. His biggest negative right now was the amount of chakra he had. Right now, his strategies were built around beating the opponent in a timeframe, which limited the amount of strategies he could use. If he had more time and more chakra, the amount of scenarios he could use in a battle would most likely triple.

Kakashi turned around 180 and sprinted directly at Shikamaru, causing the strategist to cancel his technique and engage in taijutsu. "You need more jutsu than just a clan technique, Shikamaru," Kakashi said as he fought, "if an enemy gets up close to you then you would have to rely on your teammates to defend you. If you learn more techniques then you will be a more rounded ninja." Shikamaru cursed and jumped back.

"What should I learn then?" Shikamaru asked. Kakashi hummed in contemplation. There was something…

"Mifune will be teaching Naruto kenjutsu. That might be good for you too if you think it would fit your style." Shikamaru frowned. Troublesome, but necessary.

"Yeah, whatever."

A distant boom filled the air as both the clone and Shikamaru looked over to find the source. A yell gradually grew louder and closer and the two could make out red and orange flying at them. "Shiiiiit!" Naruto flew through the air into a tree beside Shikamaru.

"What the hell?" The Nara jogged over to see Naruto rubbing his shoulder.

"I blew up." Naruto simply stated. Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief. The blonde flew through the sky and he responds with that?


	5. Chapter 5

_So I've decided that if I am gonna do this I am gonna do this right. I feel like the first four chapters are kind of rushed, so once I find this rhythm (I am close to finding it) I will go back and update some stuff, but not too drastically. I am going to slow down a bit and hopefully it builds up some "immersion"._

 _Thank you for the reviews ladies and gents, they are much appreciated and let me know what I am doing right and wrong! I know what the story is and where it is going, but I do need to slow down the process of getting from point A to point B. In the end I really want this to be a successful story that everyone can enjoy and be involved in._

 _I haven't really decided on a pairing. It really depends on the character development. Recent events have made Naruto mature, but not to the point where he is a different person. He is still goofy Naruto. Instead of giving all the answers through author's notes, I am gonna give the answers through the story, so hopefully this chapter explains some things, and future chapters do the same. Hopefully._

 **Disclaimer: Naruto is not owned by me.**

* * *

Naruto breathed heavily, his hand numb from electricity and his clothes tattered from constant explosions. Craters filled the training ground, and if anyone had just arrived to the scene they would think a battle ensued. They wouldn't be totally wrong. Naruto was battling the lightning affinity constantly. It was a huge change from his wind affinity, and he was struggling to reel it in. Wind was hard to control, of course, but it came natural to him. Lightning felt almost _wrong_ , like he was trying to draw a picture using his left hand instead of his right.

He looked up to see his clones not gaining any progress. This wasn't like last time at all. When he applied wind to the Rasengan, it created the Rasen-shuriken. Now, Naruto had it set in his mind that it would be a lightning version of the same technique, which wasn't the case. He needed to start over. This was a whole new technique. He couldn't treat it like he has done it before. So how does he apply lightning to the Rasengan, if he can't do it like he did with wind?

Kakashi looked on in curiosity as Naruto stopped training. The blonde was staring at his clones, but didn't seem to actually be looking at them. He was thinking. Honestly, Kakashi knew how to teach the blonde, but by by figuring it out himself he could learn how to do it himself in the future. Every element was different. Lightning is more energetic and fast. Wind is sharp and agile. Fire is alive and dangerous. Earth is strong and durable. Water is calm and flows. Naruto was treating lightning as if it were wind, as if it were sharp and agile.

Naruto sighed and took of his red coat and forehead protector. He rolled up the sleeves of his jacket, exposing the long sleeved fishnet shirt on his forearms, and unzipped the front. He sat down and relaxed as if he were gathering energy for Sage mode. Kakashi thought he was doing exactly that, wondering what his student had in store. The training grounds grew quiet as all of Naruto's clones popped out of existence. Then, just silence.

Shikamaru approached Kakashi, sweaty and exhausted, but kept quiet as they both watched Naruto sit still. Minutes passed before Naruto slowly stood up and took a deep breath. The two watched in anticipation as the blonde created a single shadow clone and told it to stand in front of him.

Naruto breathed in deeply, then punched his clone directly in the face, causing it to fly backwards and dispel. Kakashi and Shikamaru both dropped their jaws at the scene as Naruto just fumed in frustration. "This is so damned irritating!" Naruto shouted as he kept summoning clones and punching them. Kakashi only sweatdropped at the scene. He hadn't expected that. Suddenly, Naruto stopped. "I… I got it!" He exclaimed as he sprinted to Kakashi.

"You haven't done anything." Kakashi stated. The blonde had only punched his clones out of frustration, and blown up so far. What had he gotten?

"No! No no no! I mean, I got it!" Naruto's eyes shone with excitement and anticipation as he took a few steps back.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "I don't." Naruto made a normal Rasengan and held it there for both Shikamaru and Kakashi to see.

"With wind, I basically just added another layer to the Rasengan. I didn't really need to adjust it. The Rasengan is condensed into a sphere, while the Wind was condensed to make the technique sharp and thin." Naruto then motioned down to the Rasengan in his hand. Kakashi and Shikamaru both looked to see the Rasengan almost vibrating as it started to make a humming sound. So fast that it was barely visible.

"And so with lightning, you have to change the Rasengan itself to make it work together…" Kakashi concluded. Naruto nodded excitedly before concentrating on the technique The Rasengan started to hum louder and louder, gaining almost a whistle as it hummed. A spark shot out from the Rasengan and the technique condensed into the size of a marble.

"Shit." Naruto mumbled. _Boom._ Kakashi's eye widened as Naruto flew backwards. Good thing the young Sage had put space between them. He watched as the blonde stood up with a smile on his face. He had found out how to use the technique, but Kakashi wondered…

"Naruto, how did you know to vibrate the technique in the first place?" Kakashi asked. Naruto created a large amount of clones, who spread out and started practicing the new technique.

"When I punched my clone I think I made it's brain rattle, which made it feel vibrations! So then I thought about it, and when in Sage mode, your technique almost rattled the same way. It vibrated! When I tried to make the Rasengan when using Rasen-shuriken, I couldn't just make a normal Rasengan. I had to adjust it to account for the sharp shuriken shape that surrounded it. It has to adjust based on the affinity you are using! So, for lightning, you vibrate the Rasengan! Ya see?" Kakashi was impressed. That was very insightful. The boy was a lot smarter than he let on.

"Well. I never thought of it quite like that." Kakashi said. It was simple once you figured it out, but not a lot of ninja knew the Rasengan. There was no expert out there that could just teach them how to perfect the technique.

The Hokage took a step back from Shikamaru and the Nara gave him a quizzical look. "What? I've been trying to figure this out for years, might as well see it through." Shikamaru shrugged and sat down to watch the two train.

While Naruto was cursing and repeatedly attempting the technique through trial and error through the use of his clones, Kakashi was more conservative and not wasting too much energy with it. The two training styles were very different and both had their perks, but if Naruto could calm down and think as Kakashi did, he would learn to use the technique a lot faster. Shikamaru smiled. Naruto? Calm down? No, that wasn't what the blonde did. Trial and error was the best way Naruto could learn. Hands on. No amount of books, scrolls or history could teach him. Trial and error was an art to Naruto, and he paints it better than anyone.

Almost an hour had passed as Shikamaru continued watching the training ensue. Kakashi had just called it a session but Naruto continued to practice. Regardless, Kakashi couldn't be gone from the Hokage tower for too long, and he didn't have the chakra to maintain a clone in his stead all day long. "Shikamaru, you can stay if you'd like. There are some things I need to deal with." Kakashi shunshined out of the area, leaving Shikamaru and Naruto alone on the training ground. Sakura was around somewhere, or maybe she had gone home. Shikamaru shrugged and continued to watch Naruto fail, but the young Sage was slowly making some forms of progress.

The Nara watched as the latest attempt to create the technique almost looked as though it was a ball of spiralling lightning, but the lightning started to get wild and untamed as it escaped the sphere of the Rasengan. The technique flashed so bright he was forced to look away and several arcs of lightning shot across the training ground.

Naruto looked around to see scattered scorch marks along the entire clearing. He had lost control of the wild nature of the lightning. He had to keep it contained. Getting up, the young Sage gripped his right arm as Kakashi did when making a Raikiri. As he created a vibrating Rasengan in his right hand, he used his left to create a condensed barrier of chakra around the Rasengan, almost as though he contained the original Rasengan within another. Naruto then attempted to infuse his lightning into the original, causing the spiralling chakra to condense and turn into spiralling lightning arcs. He condensed the outer layer of the Rasengan as well to match that of the lightning. He felt himself losing control, and felt the lightning start to break through a spot in the barrier.

Shikamaru witnessed the flash of light again and prepared to brace himself. He watched as the lightning arcs again shot out of Naruto's technique, but this time going in a particular direction. "It's supposed to lose control." Shikamaru concluded. The technique was almost a defense. While Naruto could manipulate it to shoot in a specific direction, the Lightning was supposed to escape. It couldn't be contained, not for long anyway.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru called out. Naruto turned to face Shikamaru with a grin on his face. "So you've figured it out as well?"

"Yeah. Kakashi was right that you have to fast to use it," Naruto began, "in order to use it as a melee attack, I have to learn to contain it long enough to reach my opponent. Or, I can use it like the Rasen-shuriken and shoot it towards my opponent."

"Or," Shikamaru interjected, "you can create a larger Rasengan and use it almost like the rotation defense the Hyuga use. That technique can destroy entire armies, Naruto." Naruto stared at Shikamaru with a stunned expression. Was that possible? The Rasengan isn't hollow. Chakra runs through it in several directions. If he could learn to control the chakra to make it hollow, it was possible. Maybe.

"You're a genius, Shikamaru! Ya know?" Naruto gave the Nara a thumbs up. Shikamaru only waved it off and turned to walk towards the Hokage tower.

"I would stay to help you out some more, but you're just too troublesome… Ya know?" Naruto chuckled at his friend's statement.

Now, where was Sakura? He felt the ground rumble and heard a loud crash in the distance. Wherever she was, she was angry at something or someone. Naruto sighed. Did he dare go to check on her? He felt like that would make him the new target. Then again, when was he not the target?

He walked towards the direction of the constant crashes, leading him back into the forests of the training ground. He grabbed his scroll and cloak as he passed them and wandered further towards the ruckus. "This is where we finally got the bells from Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said as he passed a familiar spot. He smiled fondly at the memory. It was a cheap tactic that would only work on Kakashi, but it taught him a lot about finding an opponent's weaknesses.

Naruto entered a new clearing, and watched as Sakura carefully concentrated on her hands. The blonde looked closer at her hands but saw nothing. He walked up the tree and sat down on a branch as he watched her hold still for several minutes. Nothing still. "What is she getting at?" He mumbled in a bored tone. His pink haired teammate suddenly shook in rage and punched the ground with all of her might, causing a ripple in the ground to race towards Naruto. The blonde cringed in fear before diving off the branch towards another tree. He turned to watch his old spot get consumed in debris and topple over.

"Damn it!" He heard her curse. Naruto sweatdropped at her anger and shows of strength.

Naruto decided to drop down from his spot and approach his teammate as she started to concentrate on her hands again. "Eh, what are you doing?" He asked curiously. She didn't spare him a look.

"Practicing." She replied simply.

Naruto sighed. "Practicing destroying mother nature? Or on making your hand grow a nose? One is working and one isn't." Naruto teased. Sakura gave him an angry but tired and helpless look. "You gonna let me help?" He offered.

Sakura growled. She hated the idea of him being stronger than her. That's how it always was. She hated that she was going to ask him for help when years ago he had to ask HER. Yet, she loved that he had grown into who he was. She was proud that he was such a powerful person. Her pride would never admit such a thing, but she was very proud. "Chakra scalpels. I want to make them harm people like Kabuto did."

Naruto looked at her with a confused expression. "You already know how to make those." He stated. She had used them to heal before, he had seen it.

"Yes, I know. But to use them in combat takes so much more concentration and precision. I can't even form them anymore because I am so tired. Even when I was forming them, once I tried to use them they would dull." Sakura stopped concentrating and sat down in the grass, calling it a day.

Naruto frowned at the girl's helplessness. She shouldn't give up so easily. He sat down next to her and took her hand. "N-Naruto!" She pulled her hand back and blushed, giving him an odd look.

"What? I want you to form a scalpel while I go into Sage mode, then I can watch." He stated. Sakura looked away from him and offered her hand harshly.

"Fine." She bit her tongue and forced down her blush. She was not used to anyone holding her hand. Ever. Especially not Naruto. The blonde took his scroll off his back and summoned a clone before dispelling it. She looked over to see his orange eyelids as he took her hand.

"Go for it." He said as he focused. She bit her lip and created the scalpel, a visible blue chakra surrounding her hand. Naruto saw differently. He saw her chakra sharpen at the edge of her fingertips, and watched as it didn't change or move. It just stayed. "Move your hand." He said in a firm voice. She nearly gasped at the commanding tone. It sounded so different from the Naruto she knew, but she complied. As she moved her hand, Naruto watched as the chakra almost lagged behind and dulled, but not enough to prevent it from penetrating. The faster she moved her hand, the more it dulled.

"Make your chakra a current. Like the shape of an arrowhead on each fingertip. There is no way Kabuto used traditional chakra scalpels to inflict harm. He had to adjust them in some way." Sakura nodded and tried to make her chakra flow along her hand like a current, creating a sharp edge along her hand. "Asuma taught me how to use my wind chakra to make my kunai sharper, but to do that you need to keep the chakra moving that way you can manipulate it more. If you keep it still, it becomes stiff like a muscle. Channel it."

She did as he said and watched as it grew sharper and sharper as she continuously moved her hand. The shape became less wild and grew more condensed around her hands. She did it, but felt herself grow tired. Channelling the chakra for so long had made her low on it. Naruto noticed and stood up. "Alright, let's try it now!" He exclaimed and while still holding her hand, he took it and sliced it along his free arm.

Sakura yelped and stood up quickly to look at his arm. "You idiot! What was that for?" Naruto only slightly winced as he chuckled.

"I wanted to see if it would work! That was a good job, ya know!" Sakura's hands glowed green as she started to work on his arm at a slow pace. She was tired, but she'd be fine.

"Yeah but you don't test it on yourself! How stupid and idiotic are you! Some hero!" She growled and gritted her teeth. Sometimes he acted like he didn't have a functioning brain. "These are dangerous! You know what danger means? Danger-ous. As in don't slice yourself with it!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well now you really can confirm that it is danger-ous." He mocked. "I was expecting something more along the lines of a thank you!" Sakura stopped healing him and pushed him to the floor before stomping off towards the village.

"Find someone else to heal it!"

Naruto growled. "Yeah sure! I am sure Kyuubi will get right on that!" He shouted as he turned away to keep training. "I don't need healing. I got the fox. Good fox." He muttered under his breath.

He heard footsteps stomp back over and felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around before bonking him on the head. Sakura stood in front of him and pushed her arm into his chest causing him to sit back down on the floor. "Give me your stupid arm." Naruto gave her a confused look as she stared at him dead in the eyes. "I heal you. Not Kyuubi. Understood?" He nodded dumbly.

* * *

"The Tsuchikage has increased his border security and has sent troops to the Land of Grass." Shikaku stated. Kakashi nodded, looking at the map carefully. The Land of Grass was the only country that separated the Land of Earth from the Land of Fire. If the Tsuchikage was sending troops there, then he was either preparing for something or sending a message.

"Then we should strengthen our borders as well right?" Shikamaru suggested. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. If they did send troops to the borders, it would increase security for outlying villages that didn't have the protection of ninja.

"No, if we do send ninja to the border it would increase the likelihood of confrontation with the Hidden Stone. That would give the Tsuchikage what he wants. War. He is only waiting for a reason to start one." Kakashi replied. Shikamaru frowned, so what did they do?

"If we could keep our units near the border, but have some recon patrols along it, then we can have both security and distance. This would lessen the chance of a confrontation while still having troops near the outlying villages in the area. If the Stone does cross, then we will retaliate with defense." Kakashi took a few troop pieces and placed them on the map. "Notify the Daimyo that we will be patrolling the borders. Make no mistake, this is purely defense. We will NOT be the provokers of this war."

Inoichi Yamanaka nodded. "I will inform the Fire Daimyo." The room grew silent as the Yamanaka exited the room.

"What about Uzumaki?" A voice sounded out. Kakashi didn't like the man behind the words. Danzo. "If we are going to war, then Uzumaki must be a large part of it." Kakashi knew that Danzo wanted his Hokage title. He knew that Danzo wanted Naruto to be a weapon growing up. He knew that Danzo had ROOT. He knew that Danzo was dangerous. As for Naruto, Kakashi did not want the blonde to be on the frontlines, but he had to be. Naruto was powerful, and if he was on the frontlines morale would skyrocket for the Leaf.

"Naruto, regardless of who commands the battlefield, is the man that everyone will look up to," Kakashi said proudly, "he is the strongest in our village, he saved us, he brought people back from the dead. He must be on the frontlines if it comes to war."

"He is a boy. Pein brought people back from the dead. When Uzumaki falls our people will be weak. We cannot rely on a boy." Danzo stated calmly. Kakashi narrowed his eye. What did Danzo want?

"None of us can match the power that Naruto brings to the field, who would you suggest take his place?" Shikaku asked skeptically.

Danzo smirked. "Our Lord Hokage of course. You are the leader, are you not? The Akatsuki will be looking for Naruto. He will be safer here, protected by ANBU." The Hokage grit his teeth. He knew what Danzo wanted. If there happened to be an unfortunate 'accident' on the field, then Danzo would be the front-runner to become Hokage. Yet, there was some truth to his words. Kakashi had already planned to be on the frontlines, but he had planned to make Naruto a prominent figure in the war. Whether it be Commander or as a Bodyguard to Kakashi.

"Fine. Naruto will not be on the frontlines. He will train at Mt. Myoboku to further his talents as a Sage, but only if the war starts. Clear?"

Shikaku frowned but nodded. Naruto was a necessity if it came to war, and he hoped Kakashi had a plan to use him. Danzo, meanwhile, just smirked and limped out of the room.

"Damn him." Kakashi muttered.

"You gave him the opportunity he wanted, Kakashi. You shouldn't bend so easily." Shikaku stated. Danzo would be willing to do anything to become Hokage, even in the time of war.

"I need to spring the trap. Besides, if I fall, Naruto is there." Kakashi replied.

"You really want to put so much faith in Naruto?"

"Shikaku, you are a smart man. Surely you know things about Naruto that others do not."

Shikaku sighed and sat down in a chair. "Troublesome. You really think he can have the same effect on the battlefield that Minato had?" He questioned.

Kakashi smiled. "He will make Minato look bad." Kakashi then paused. Should he put this out there now? If he gained Shikaku's support first, then he could potentially gain the support of all the clan heads.

"Shikaku." The Nara looked up at Kakashi seriously. "What do you think of Naruto getting a seat on the council?" Shikaku's eyes widened at the question. Naruto was young, no matter how powerful he was, he was still young. The council would try to twist and bend him to get his support in different plans. The boy would only have more on his plate than he already had. However, there was one thing they could do.

"As a Namikaze, I would agree." Shikaku replied. If Naruto was on the council under the Namikaze name, it would increase his respect. However, it would make him a target as well. "If Danzo tries anything, and is successful, the Namikaze name might be the push Naruto needs to become Hokage."

"It would make Naruto the next target." Kakashi sighed and took a seat. He still hadn't told the council of Naruto's Sage status, of his Jounin status. Now he had to tell them that he was a Namikaze. "My student has turned out to be quite the handful."

* * *

Naruto walked into town with Sakura close by his side. His wrist already felt a ton better thanks to Sakura and Kyuubi, but he made certain to assure Sakura that she did all the work. She always hated the thought of Kyuubi being in Naruto, and was scared for him. He saw the signs, he notices the concerns, but he didn't want her to waste her breath. He would be fine.

With the way things had been lately, he hadn't even felt the temptation of the Nine-Tails. Ever since his dad fixed the seal, no malicious intent was felt. It was a welcome feeling, but it also made Naruto feel a bit lonely. It made him feel different, as if he wasn't Naruto. This was the most 'Naruto' he had ever been though, right? No Kyuubi, just Naruto. Maybe he should talk to the fox? Maybe he should learn more about it if he had to live with it.

"Naruto?" He suddenly saw a hand waving in front of his face, and a pair of emerald eyes looking at him funny. Naruto shook his thoughts away and gave Sakura a smile.

"Hm?" He had really zoned out their, and could tell by the slightly annoyed expression on her face that she had tried to grab his attention for some time.

"I asked if you wanted to go grab some lunch.." She said nervously. Sakura? Nervous? Lunch?

"Are you sure Pein didn't kill me? Did Sasuke put me in a Genjutsu? Because I am pretty sure you just asked Naruto," he pointed to himself, "to go eat with you." She looked away from him and nodded her head. Naruto shrugged and started to walk further into the village.

"Is that a no?" She asked as she picked up her pace to walk beside him again.

"It's more of a 'lead the way'." Sakura smiled and grabbed him by his red cloak.

"Okay! I know the perfect place!" She immediately sped off towards the center of the village with Naruto in tow. The blonde looked insanely confused, and then slightly paranoid. Why did she even wanna go to lunch?

He felt them both stop in front of Choji's favorite barbecue restaurant. Sakura drug him in and stopped at the front. "Table for four please!" Four? He then felt himself pulled further into the restaurant and saw Ino and Hinata already there. Crap.

"Sakura! Naruto! There you are!" Ino said excitedly. Naruto sat next to the window and Sakura sat beside him. "About time! You're late!" Naruto gave Sakura a funny look.

"You planned this." He stated accusingly.

"Yup. Ino wanted a date with you." Naruto slumped down in his seat. He didn't want a date with Ino.

"Forehead! No! This is a friendly meal!" Ino shouted, but she contradicted her statement by giving Naruto a sly wink.

"Troublesome." Naruto murmured.

"Oh great. Even when Shikamaru isn't here he still is. Perfect." Naruto sighed and shrugged off his cloak, leaving him in his orange jacket and Kakashi's flak jacket. "When did you get a flak jacket, Naruto?" Ino asked. Sakura then also looked at him curiously.

"Ah, right. Kakashi promoted me to Jounin. Also gave me the title of Sage. So he gave me his old flak jacket."

The three women looked shocked. "Jounin?" Hinata asked, making sure she heard right.

"Yup. And Sage." Naruto confirmed. Ino then put her elbows on the table and looked into his eyes dreamily.

"Do tell me more, Hero." Naruto sweatdropped and slumped further into his seat. Was it too late to cancel lunch? Naruto hadn't grown comfortable with the praise and attention yet. Just a while ago he wasn't the most popular person in the Leaf, but actually quite opposite. The 180 confused him, and kind of hurt him.

"Well. It means I can come and go as I please. Also means I get authority over Jounin in the Leaf, and I also get to use forbidden techniques freely. That's just some of the basic stuff." It was a small part of what being a Sage meant. It came with a lot of privileges and perks, but a lot of responsibility as well.

"So you can use Rasen-shuriken?" Ino asked. Naruto nodded.

"Only in Sage mode." Sakura stated, giving Naruto THE look. "Or else you will get _hurt_." Naruto turned back to Ino, refusing to look Sakura in the eyes. He knew what the look meant, and he didn't miss the implied message either.

"Right. Sage mode only." Better to make Sakura happy for now, but he knew not to use Rasen-shuriken in a melee form. He wanted to be able to use his chakra after all.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the window. The four ninja turned to their right to see Kyza in the window smiling at Naruto… Wearing an orange jacket. "Hey Naruto! Look what I got!" Naruto looked back at Sakura with a helpless look on his face.

"Aw how cute!" Ino exclaimed happily. "He's wearing the same jacket as you! That is so adorable." Naruto groaned, but gave the kid a smile and wave. Apparently, Kyza took it as an invitation to join them and raced into the restaurant.

The brown haired boy slid under the table and scooted himself in between Naruto and Sakura, much to the disappointment of the blonde. "So I did some research about you, and my dad said that you have the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed in you! That you are the protector of the village and have been it's hero ever since you were born!" Sakura gave Naruto a small smile. It was a touchy subject, but Naruto wasn't ashamed of it.

"I… I don't think it makes me much of a hero." Naruto mumbled, but Kyza waved it off and took out a book.

"Po found this book for me. You're in it, ya know!" Naruto sweatdropped. He even took his verbal tic. "It was written by Lord Jiraiya! Your sensei and one of the Sages! Elite ninja!" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, he wrote that before I was born."

Kyza gave him a funny look. "Um. Nope. This is a different one! I read that one too, but this one came out a few months ago!" Naruto rose an eyebrow. The Pervy Sage wrote a new book about him? Why didn't he say anything.

"Enlighten me."

"Well, in this book you are rescuing the Wind Daimyo's daughter…"

"Nope! Put it away!" Naruto took the book and immediately closed it, a large blush adorning his face. The three women looked at him like he had grown a third eye.

"Naruto? What's the matter?" Sakura asked. Was there something bad in the book? Did he do something wrong?

"Nothing! Just a book! And I don't want Pervy Sage's words rubbing off on the kid ya know?" Not a bad excuse, and it was true. For Kyza to be reading any of Jiraiya's books is an awful thing.

"Naruto did special things to the daughter's… ya know.. 'He kissed it gently'." Naruto was having a fit in the background. Sweat dropped in gallons and his cheeks were bright red, his jaw hanging as he saw Sakura put the pieces together.

"Kissed what… Gently?" Sakura growled. Naruto put his hand over Kyza's mouth and whispered threats in his ear.

"Nothing, Sakura! Ya know! Just formalities! Kissing rings!" Naruto said in a rush.

"So the book is based on a true story?" Ino said, fascinated with the story.

"NO!"

"Then how do you know? You didn't know about the book until just now." Ino gave an evil smirk. Hinata just blushed from next to her and played with her fingers.

"No, I mean I met her but I didn't… You know! Come on it's me!" Naruto pleaded. Sakura just stared at the table and growled before looking up at Naruto with a sweet and innocent look.

"Naruto. Did you have sex with the Wind Daimyo's daughter?" Naruto shook his head vigorously.

"No no no! She offered but I refused! Pervy Sage wrote down all of my encounters with women on this notepad he had! I never did anything like that!" Sakura didn't buy it. She just stared at him with an evil glint and a sweet smile. "We went to dinner! We caught Pervy Sage spying on us! That's all! Just dinner!" Still not buying it.

Naruto panicked. She was going to kill him. Sakura didn't like it when women flirted with him, or when he flirted with women. It's just how it worked. He didn't question it. "Besides! I still was like… one hundred percent in love with you at the time so I didn't do anything! Promise!"

Ino dropped her fork and Hinata gasped. Sakura sat there with her mouth open and her eyebrows raised. Kyza laughed like a maniac and patted Naruto on the back. "Good job! You spilled the beans." Naruto also sat there with his mouth hanging open. How could he say it so nonchalantly like that?

"At the time?" Sakura asked, completely disregarding Kyza's comment. Naruto mentally slapped himself. How to fix this… How to fix it…

"Yup. Long time ago. Like a year. I got over it!" Nice.

"Oh." Sakura looked at the food the waiter had set down at one point. At the time.

"Ya know, more of an obsession. Like you and Sasuke! A one-sided love!" Sakura growled at the statement. Not a smart thing to say.

Sakura didn't know how she felt about the Uchiha, and for Naruto to just assume how she felt was ridiculous. She didn't love Sasuke, or maybe she did. He had tried to kill her, but she didn't want to just give up on him. With everything Naruto said to Sasuke at the Land of Iron, it seemed as though he had given up on his old friend.

"Whatever." She said simply. Naruto only shrugged and stood up.

"Well, I'm not gonna sit here and talk all day. Not my thing. I'm gonna go train, so I'll see you all around!" Naruto leapt over the back of the booth and jogged out of the restaurant, leaving a confused Sakura and Ino.

"He just trained though." Sakura said curiously.

Naruto took a deep breath as he left the restaurant. Too much attention and drama. Definitely not his thing. He chuckled. That kid almost got him killed. Naruto took a step before an Anbu appeared next to him.

"Lord Naruto, the Hokage has requested your presence."

Naruto groaned as he was once again having his day interrupted. He just wanted to train so more, could he not do that? If Kakashi was summoning him though, it was going to be important.

"Alright then."


	6. Chapter 6

_The Chapter's are not too long, I know. They will get longer, promise. With the events happening so far in the story I don't want to drag it out too much. When the plot really starts rolling the chapters will grow double what they are now._

 _A little more setup and the story will really get rolling, right now it is just getting started._

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto leaned against the window as the old Hokage advisors, Homura and Koharu, sat on the couch in front of Kakashi. Danzo sat on the other couch, his face showing little to no emotion. Shikamaru stood beside Kakashi's desk on the opposite side of Naruto, also showing little emotion other than laziness.

Naruto sighed. He didn't like meetings of any kind unless they were Team 7 meetings. These were far too serious and boring to interest him. Kakashi told him it was important though, so he would see it through and attempt to advise or listen as much as possible. He looked over to Shikamaru to see the Nara staring back at him as well. " _Guess neither of us are interested."_ Naruto thought.

It was funny, really. Kakashi always showed up late and had a lazy demeanor. Shikamaru was lazy as hell and just didn't care much for anything that required him to make an effort. Naruto had too much energy and his attention span couldn't handle sitting in a room and talking for hours. Yet, here they were. The most ridiculous trio of characters, giving it their best to make the Leaf a better place.

Naruto wasn't going to zone out or tune out the elder's' words. They were wise, no matter how arrogant or warmongering they were. In the end, whatever is best for the Leaf, Naruto will give it his all. Whether it is sitting in a room talking for hours, or fighting entire armies.

"Naruto is far too young to have such statuses, no matter his actions." Homura stated. Naruto frowned. All he did was save the entire village.

"Naruto is more than capable of handling the status, and the village looks up to him. While he may not be on the frontlines at all times, he will be a Sage. His training and growth relies on such a status." Kakashi replied. With Sage status, Naruto would be able to enter the frontlines freely by his own choice. No one could have any say in it except for Kakashi. "You may not want one man to have so much influence over the Leaf, Danzo. However, you cannot deny that Naruto would be a very valuable asset as a Sage. Information, relations, and people would feel protected when a Sage is near."

Danzo held an emotionless look, making Naruto fume inside. The man annoyed him, frustrated him. He hated people that didn't show their emotions like this. It reminded him of Sasuke. "You… Are correct." Kakashi's eye widened at Danzo's words. "While Uzumaki may have too much influence for my comfort, he should be granted Sage status. However, what if the only Sage available to us falls, Kakashi?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto interrupted.

Danzo looked over to the blonde with a calculating eye. "I mean that you, Uzumaki, are not invincible. When Jiraiya died, everyone looked to Tsunade. If you were not present when Tsunade failed, and the village somehow survived Pein's devastation, then morale would be at an all time low. You gave them hope, but who gives them hope after you? Kakashi?" Naruto gave Danzo a hard look. Kakashi was the Hokage, he deserved a certain level of respect and should be able to provide hope.

"And why wouldn't Lord Hokage give them hope?" Shikamaru asked sternly.

"Because as many know, Kakashi fell in battle against one single Pein. Naruto killed all of them." Danzo stated simply. "Naruto Uzumaki, I do not care for the power you wield, both physically and politically. People look up to you far too much and if you fail, then the Leaf fails." Naruto winced at the statement. He wasn't wrong. If he died, then the Leaf would have no one to turn to. No one would come to their rescue, and they would inevitably fall.

Naruto wasn't one to let that happen.

"You're wrong, Lord Danzo." Naruto glared directly at the man. "People have doubted me all my life, you are not the first. It took me years to find anyone who cared for me at all. You doubt me now, but the entire village doubted me before. I don't see much doubt from them anymore, and I won't see doubt from you soon." Naruto took a few steps forward and knelt in front of Danzo, who was still sitting, staring him directly in the eyes.

"I will stop any threat to the Leaf. Permanently." Naruto growled. Danzo showed emotion for the first time everyone had sat down. His eye widened and his lips sealed tightly. Naruto Uzumaki was no child, he was no warrior, he was a protector. Danzo stared into Naruto's confident blue eyes and saw nothing but resolve and sincerity.

"We will see." Danzo responded before standing. He gave a short bow to Kakashi before exiting the room, leaving Koharu and Homura. Naruto returned to his place by the window, where the room stared at him in a new light. The serious and commited look on Naruto's face was always one of Kakashi's favorite traits. His student could turn from a goofy kid to a serious man in a matter of seconds.

Shikamaru smiled. Naruto may not have the respect and patience, but he handled himself well in any form of politics due to sheer willpower. If someone doubted Naruto or his words, the blonde would vow to proved them wrong. With one look into Naruto's eyes, you could see truth and power. What many missed though, was that Naruto also had pride in his eyes. He was proud of what he accomplished, and proud of what he stood for. Shikamaru did not miss that pride when he looked at Naruto. He noticed. It was Naruto's best quality in his book.

"What of his Jounin rank? You will just give him the rank with no exams? No training?" Koharu asked with an ill tone. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto is more than capable of handling the rank of Jounin. He is stronger than even I am as Hokage and he has grown up. He knows when to take things seriously. He is far smarter than your average ninja, has strategies that would make a Nara jealous, and above all he has the respect of the entire populace."

"But he is far too young!" Homura retorted.

"You keep using that excuse, but I was a Jounin by the age of twelve. I don't see your point." The elders only growled in displeasure at the facts Kakashi provided. They by no means hated Naruto, but the new power he possessed. He had more influence than any man in the Leaf.

"Alright, you are dismissed if that is all of your complaints. I am certain I will see you again within the month!" Kakashi gave the elders a smile as they turned to leave, frowns on their faces. Once the door shut, a huge smile appeared on Naruto's face.

"I like this." Naruto said. He enjoyed standing up to these old people. He wouldn't take any attitude from them. He was going to show them.

"That's troublesome. Don't make it a habit to confront council members aggressively, Naruto." Shikamaru teased. The young Sage just gave him a sheepish look and scratched the back of his head.

"Well he had it coming, ya know?"

Kakashi smiled at the two. While they may not be the greatest advisor material, they were the best advisors in the world to him. The wits of Shikamaru were welcome to Kakashi, as the Nara was at times more intelligent than himself. It helped him to think thoroughly on problems when Shikamaru and Shikaku were around. Their ideas would give him ideas and vice versa.

Then there was the prideful and confrontational Naruto, who would get in someone's face and say what needed to be said. Naruto had the gift to make friends, to make people trust him, and if Kakashi was going to succeed in this position, he needed Naruto to share that gift with him as advisor.

"Next up, the clan heads! Ready to go?" Kakashi asked as he stood up. The two advisors gave Kakashi a nod and they exited the room.

The council chambers was still in the Hokage tower, on a lower floor. The chamber was a round room with a square table in the middle. On the opposite side of Kakashi was Hiashi Hyuga. To his left in order was Choza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka. To his right was Muta Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, and Danzo Shimura. There were two empty seats at the table, one in between Danzo and Kakashi, and one on the opposite side in between Inoichi and Kakashi. Naruto assumed that these were for the advisors, and Kakashi motioned for the two to sit.

As both Shikamaru and Naruto sat down, the meeting commenced. "We are here now to discuss any issues or requests that are presented to the table by a clan head, Hokage or Hokage advisor. Clan heads are given votes, while advisors are not. As always, keep in mind that my say is final, regardless of the vote." Kakashi stated. The clan heads all nodded in affirmation.

"The Hyuga clan requests an estate expansion. Our numbers are growing and we need more room." Hiashi requested.

"Very well, with the reconstruction still a process that will be easy to do. We will double the size of your current estate once we have the manpower to do so." The Leaf was almost finished, but Kakashi had decided a couple weeks ago that he wanted the village to be larger anyways, so it worked. Hiashi nodded in agreement.

The room grew quiet for a few moments, and awkward silence to Naruto, but none of the clans seemed phased by it. He looked over to Shikamaru to see the young Nara tilting his head back closing his eyes. The blonde chuckled as Inoichi smacked Shikamaru on the back of the head, causing him to sit up straight with an annoyed expression.

"I have a news on behalf of the Inuzuka clan," Tsume began, "my daugher, Hana, is now old enough to run the clan, and I grow tired. I would like to inform you that she will be taking over as clan head within the month." A few whispers sounded the room, and Naruto heard all of them. They were trained ninja, so their voices were silent enough that if you were within a couple feet you could still barely hear. Yet, Naruto was on the opposite side of the table, and was able to hear them over the talking beside him from Muta and Tsume.

"Hana is still quite young." Inoichi murmured.

"She is a smart girl, she will do fine." Shikaku replied.

"She is hardly older than Naruto or Shikamaru." Choza said.

"And they are Hokage advisors." Shikaku finished. The three looked up and nodded. Kakashi looked at Naruto's focused look and rose an eyebrow.

"Can you hear them, Naruto?" The Hokage asked out loud. The clan heads all turned towards Naruto as the blonde nodded. "Interesting. Just send her into my office this evening, Tsume, I will talk with her." The Inuzuka nodded, yet they all still looked curiously at Naruto.

"What? I have a demon sealed inside of me and you're freaked out that I can hear you?" Shikaku shrugged and waved it off. It was a good point.

"Well, while we are on the topic of clan heads, I would like to propose Naruto as the clan head of the Namikaze clan." The council's jaws collectively dropped. Naruto gave Kakashi a surprised, incredulous look while Shikamaru just raised his eyebrows. "He is the last Namikaze, and he is already a Sage, might as well right?"

"Didn't I just talk with you about him having too much power and influence already? And now you wish to give him more? Lord Hokage that is far too much responsibility on a sixteen year old boy." Naruto may not like Danzo, but the man had a point. Advisor, Sage, clan head, it was far too much.

"I think it's a good time to do so. He has no members so it should be easy to start out with." Shikaku stated.

"Generally a clan must have fifty ninja or more to have a representative on the council." Danzo argued.

"Well that leaves you out, Danzo. You only have nine." Shikaku rebutted.

"Shikaku, Danzo is right, the boy is young and the clan is non-existent. The clan is redundant." Choza insisted.

Naruto frowned. Redundant? The Namikaze clan is a great one, and his father was a great man. He couldn't let it die out.

"Hold on! Hold the hell on!" Inoichi stood up and looked at Naruto. "Nobody is questioning this? Lord Hokage just said that Naruto is a Namikaze and no one is freaking out right now? Because I am freaking out!" Choza and Shikaku looked at him with disbelieving looks.

"I'm with Inoichi on this one. This would mean that Naruto is related to the Fourth Hokage." Tsume mused.

"His son. To be exact." Muta added. He did not know that Naruto was the Fourth's child, but due to the boy's age and Minato being an only child, it was the only relation that was possible.

"Yup." Naruto said simply.

Shikaku shook his head. "You all are so troublesome. He looks exactly like him. Not to mention that he sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto. What did you think, he grabbed some random kid?"

Choza suddenly looked up in shock before pointing at Naruto. "You are the Fourth's child!" Everyone sweatdropped.

"Yeah we've confirmed that already." Kakashi uttered. " _I guess he just now processed that bit."_

The council hushed for a few moments with more whispers that were audible to Naruto. He sat for a few moments before growing impatient and forming a Rasengan in his hand. The room grew quiet and watched as the blue hue radiated from Naruto's face. The way his bangs' shadows covered his blue eyes, the way the color reflected along his skin. He looked exactly like his father did.

Naruto then spread his fingers wide, causing the Rasengan to split into five tiny spheres, one on each finger, before merging them back together. It was the equivalent to twiddling his thumbs, with an element of chakra control in it.

"Lord Sixth, we can not make any decision as of now and it is a big subject. Can we delay it?" Hiashi suggested. Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose we can. We will discuss it later. Anything else?" Silence. "Alright then, dismissed."

* * *

Sand blew through Sasuke's eyes as he walked across the deserts of the Land of Wind. His footsteps grew heavy as the sand almost seemed to turn to powder as he got deeper into the land. He looked to the horizon, only to see sand, sand, and sand. They had been walking for a day or so, and his group was growing impatient. He turned behind him to see Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu lagging behind. They look fatigued, dehydrated, but Sasuke did not have time for such weakness. He needed to get stronger to destroy the Leaf and to beat Naruto. This was why he was travelling to the Land of Blood. To grow stronger.

The last Uchiha took a deep breath. Salty air. Ocean. They were close. He again looked to the horizon, still only seeing sand. He could smell it though, he was close. "Sasuke! Karin needs water or she will shrivel up out here!" Suigetsu called out. Sasuke turned to look at the redhead, watching as she licked her chapped lips. Her face was red from the sun, but she was shivering.

Sasuke turned back towards the South and continued walking, leaving Team Hawk to take care of Karin. Suigetsu frowned. "Damn him." Jugo remained silent as he picked up Karin and continued walking as well. Sasuke paid them no attention. He was too close to his destination.

* * *

Shikamaru arrived at the training ground. The meeting today had left both him and Naruto irritated, so he figured his friend would be here letting off some steam. He looked at the training ground with a raised brow. Naruto was lying down in the middle of a crater and his scroll was unrolled to his side. Sweat dripped down his blonde hair and his cloak was dirty and tattered.

"Well I would ask what the hell happened but I think I already know," Shikamaru uttered. Naruto looked up to to the Nara and smiled.

"I used up all of my Sage mode trying to get this technique down," Naruto responded. He stood to his feet and jumped out of the crater to meet his friend. "I need to find a way to improve the duration of my Sage mode, but even Pervy Sage couldn't stay in it for long." Shikamaru looked down at the crater in thought. If Jiraiya couldn't remain in it any longer than Naruto, then practice wasn't an option. You could increase the speed in which you enter Sage mode by practicing gathering nature energy, but you couldn't gather any more than your body could handle.

"Well. You use clones as a backup to gather the energy, why not just keep doing that?" Shikamaru questioned. Potentially, Naruto could learn to create more clones and have them focus on gathering the energy. His problem before was that it was difficult to distribute the chakra and focus to use more than two.

"Well," Naruto began, "when I do that, then the most clones I can create at a time is three. My clones are all connected in a way, so creating more disturbs their focus. It really limits my strategy to using three clones when I could be using dozens. Not to mention that it makes me a target if I am summoning clones in the middle of the battle. I end up needing to distract the enemy while I do it."

Shikamaru hummed in thought. If Naruto could reverse summon clones that are gathering nature energy, then perhaps...

"What if you store the nature energy in a seal?" Shikamaru suggested. Naruto shook his head.

"Nature energy is almost alive, and needs to be gathered and maintained actively or else it will dissipate. It is like chakra, except more complex." While it was a good thought, it wouldn't work. The energy would disappear over time, so getting it in the seal wasn't a problem, but maintaining it was.

"Then maybe if you create a seal that gathers?" Naruto gave Shikamaru a funny look. "You apply chakra to a seal, so that means it can absorb chakra, right?"

"Not quite, you apply the chakra to it yourself and the seal activates." Naruto replied. Shikamaru frowned, sat down, and got into his thinking pose, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts. Shikamaru was onto something, but how could he make a seal maintain the nature energy that he sends into it?

"I don't think there is a shortcut to this," Shikamaru said while standing. "The best scenario I can give you, is that you learn how to gather it faster, and increase the radius that you can dispel clones. Maybe, if you're lucky, you can find a seal that allows you to store energy. That is unlikely."

Naruto groaned in agony while Shikamaru just sighed at the blonde's antics. "You are such a drama queen. I'm going home." As Shikamaru turned around to walk home, he saw Sakura a few feet away. "Hey, Sakura. Not gonna see much, he's just thinking."

"Thinking?" Sakura repeated as the Nara kept walking. "Thinking about what?" She asked Naruto.

"Sage stuff," Naruto replied. "It's not much, just something I need to improve on if I wanna fight for long periods of time." Sakura scoffed. Naruto had more stamina than anyone, and he was talking about longevity during a fight? "How's Granny?"

Sakura picked up Naruto's unraveled scroll and looked the seal over. "She is fine. Still in comatose." Tsunade hadn't improved, but she hadn't regressed either. This gave Sakura enough hope to believe that she would be okay.

"Sorry to hear that. But you know her, she'll be up and beating the hell out of me in no time at all! You'll see!" He gave her a thumbs up and a large grin that could make anyone smile back.

"Yeah, I suppose she will. How is being a Sage by the way?"

Naruto groaned. "It's fine and all. But the council is full of old people and they're all so boring! Then there is the Crippled Old Man, he is an asshole! He still treats me like I'm a kid and it pisses me off!" That was a small part of Naruto's problems with Danzo. The guy just gave Naruto a bad feeling, and the blonde decided he should trust his gut and be wary of Danzo.

"How courtly of you."

"And then there's the village! They give me attention, yeah, but now it's too much! I can't walk home or to get ramen without a kid asking for an autograph or a woman asking me to have her babies!" A vein bulged on Sakura's forehead at the thought. Women can't flirt with Naruto. It's the rules. "I mean, why would they even want to give me their baby? That's messed up!" Of course.

"Maybe children are just too much to handle. You definitely should not entertain their offers. Ever." Sakura suggested. Naruto nodded. Sakura was right, he couldn't just take people's kids. He could be blamed for kidnapping.

"Yeah, yeah. Good call."

"You do know that they're not offering their kids to you, right?" Naruto gave her a look of disbelief.

"Whatcha mean?" She looked at his innocent, puppy dog eyes and groaned.

"They want you to MAKE babies with them." More innocent looks. "Birds and bees?" No reaction. "Jiraiya's books." Naruto's jaw dropped.

"T-that's ridiculous!" He exclaimed. There is no way people would ask such a thing. Is that how it worked? "Wait. So you just ask when you want a baby?" Sakura groaned. Was she really going to do this right now? It did sound entertaining.

"Well, yes. The partners ask and talk about it and then come to a conclusion on whether they are ready or not."

A mischievous grin formed on Naruto's face. "Wanna see something funny?" Sakura tilted her head in amusement. What sick idea did he have in his head?

"Enlighten me."

Naruto lead Sakura over to the Hokage's office and stopped outside of the door. Naruto had to try his hardest to suppress his giggles and Sakura couldn't help but want to laugh. "So I learned a trick from my sexy jutsu. Watch carefully." Naruto created a clone that transformed into Ino.

"Um. Naruto?"

"Shh. Just watch." Naruto whispered as the Ino clone walked into the Hokage's office. Naruto and Sakura peeked through the doorway as Kakashi looked up at _Ino_.

"Something I can do for you, Ino?" Kakashi asked.

The Ino clone sat down on the couch and crossed her legs before saying… "How are babies made, Kakashi?" Sakura's jaw dropped. This wasn't happening. Kakashi's eye widened.

"W-what?" The Hokage stuttered.

"How are babies made?"

Sakura shook her head. This could get Ino into trouble. Kakashi would be furious. Suddenly, perverted giggles sounded out through the room. "Well, I could… Teach you." Oh hell no. Sakura punched the door, causing it to fly into the Hokage's desk.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto stood in the hallway with a blank expression on his face. Their Hokage might be killed, but would it be worth it? The Ino clone dispelled and Kakashi looked towards the empty spot on the couch in pain.

"No! Bring her back! Naruto! You gotta bring her back!" Kakashi cried out through his sobs while Sakura screamed at him. Yamato walked up to Naruto and looked in the room with a puzzled, shocked expression.

"W-what the hell?" Kakashi was sobbing while Sakura had him by the collar of his shirt, shaking him uncontrollably. Naruto just shrugged, a huge smile on his face. Everything had gone according to plan.

Sasuke took his first step onto the boat. Sand poured onto the wooden surface with each step that the Uchiha took. He was sick of sand. As the captain held out his hand for payment to cross the Sea, Sasuke stared him in the eyes. The man then turned around and walked to the ship's wheel, leaving Team Hawk on the deck.

"Genjutsu?" Karin asked. Sasuke nodded. He made the man believe he had already made the payment. Now he was one step closer to the Land of the Moon. "Why are we going to this place anyways?" Sasuke sighed. He really didn't care to explain.

"An ancient power lies within the tombs and catacombs of The Hidden Moon. We are going to find it." Sasuke answered. Jugo gasped slightly. Sasuke couldn't be searching for that power, could he?

"You don't mean… _that_ power, do you?" Jugo asked. Sasuke only gave a short " _hn"_ in response. Jugo didn't like that answer. If he was correct in assuming what Sasuke was after, then this was a fool's errand. The rise of Naruto had driven Sasuke mad, and seeing the blonde in the Land of Iron's Kage Summit had caused the last Uchiha to put plans into motion that should never be achieved. This ancient power could not only kill them, but everyone in the Elemental Nations. There was no way to control it.

Karin looked between the two, heavily confused. "Um, what is the Moon Village? I've never heard of it."

"The Hidden Moon is located in the Land of the Moon, a small country to the South that is full of ancient techniques. We are going because of a forbidden technique that was created long ago by one of the few great ninja that ever lived there. I am going to learn it." Sasuke informed.

"Sasuke. This is not a good idea." Sasuke gave him a cold glare, causing him to silence. If Sasuke was already set on this, you could not change his mind. Jugo knew that he had probably thought of the consequences already, he just didn't care. Consequences be damned, Sasuke was going to unleash this power out of spite. He did not want Naruto to see such success, and would go to extreme lengths to prove that leaving Konoha was the right decision to achieve true power.

Sasuke left the Hidden Leaf believing that it was the only way he could become powerful enough to kill Itachi. Powerful enough to be the strongest ninja alive. Naruto tried to stop Sasuke, arguing that you didn't need to use evil. You didn't need to leave the Leaf to become powerful. If Naruto was more powerful than Sasuke, then that would make Naruto correct, and Sasuke wrong. The Uchiha was too proud to admit that he was wrong, and would do forbidden, dark things to prove it.

Jugo hoped secretly that Naruto was strong enough to counter what Sasuke was planning on doing. No one else could stop it. This was just adding onto the war that was already started. The world really was about to see the darkest of days.

As the sun began to set on the horizon, Team Hawk sailed to the Land of the Moon. The technique was rightfully forbidden, and Jugo knew the reason. This was about to get ugly.

* * *

 _How'd ya like it? I'm maintaining the goofiness for now because Naruto does have it's humor, but that's going to disappear pretty quick once the war starts. Just how it works. I've started the next chapter already before publishing this one, and man is it long. Lots of big things are approaching, and it is getting interesting._

 _So I started out with Team Hawk sailing to the Land of Blood because so little is known about it, or if it even exists. It is mentioned once or twice in Naruto and felt like the perfect place to explore a little. However, so little is even known of the Land of Blood, so I found that I really couldn't create a story there without creating a land from scratch because it practically doesn't exist (even though it does). Regardless, the technique Sasuke is searching for is still the same, he is just travelling to the Hidden Moon instead._

 _Pairings... Well, I know there is going to be one, and I have no clue what it will be since the characters are still developing and will continue to down the line. Hell, Naruto could fall in love with Gai and they could ride off into the sunset together on Lee's back._

 _I'm just kidding. That would be funny though._

 _Stay tuned! Update will come out within the week! Probably by Friday! So while you all sit at home with no friends like I do, don't feel bad! I will be here for you. Keep sending your reviews and love, I pay attention to them all! Thank you so much for the advice! I'm tryna fix my mistakes and improve my story for your enjoyment as much as my own!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Well originally this Chapter had been 13,000 words long, which is a big change to what it has been so far. I could have released all 13,000 because I do realize that my chapters are a bit small, but I decided to separate the chapter into two. Mostly because this chapter differs greatly from the next one, which is going to be kicking things off in the first major "Arc" of this story._

 _Hope you enjoy this one!_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Kakashi signed off a few papers as Naruto and Shikamaru argued over who would go get the Hokage coffee. The man just laughed at the antics as Naruto marched off angrily when Shikamaru pretended to fall asleep on the couch. His advisors were comical relief at the least. While Naruto was less of an advisor and more of a student and bodyguard, he still gave a lot of good input that surprised both the Hokage and the Nara. If they needed something done, needed a favor, needed information, Naruto always had a relation that he could reach out too and bam. Task completed.

Shikamaru's usefulness was of course his intelligence. While Naruto was a quick thinker in combat, Shikamaru was a quick thinker in everything. You could say that Naruto's combat instinct and tactics rivaled Shikamaru, the Nara was far superior with booksmarts and politics. He was manipulative when needed, and knew how to work around the rules and play emotions in his favor. It was downright scary.

"Ah man. Konohamaru chiseled his face onto the First Hokage's nose," Kakashi groaned. Naruto slightly matures, and Konohamaru took his place. There was always that one kid. The Hokage looked to the next page and deadpanned. "And Naruto chiseled his on the Fourth Hokage's." And then there were two.

Shikamaru chuckled as Might Guy walked into the room. Kakashi and Shikamaru both gasped at the ridiculous jumpsuit Guy was wearing. It was pink. Guy looked extremely depressed as he stepped up to the Hokage's desk. "Kakashi. My eternal rival. YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! THIS IS A MOST UNYOUTHFUL ACT!"

Kakashi scratched his head and chuckled nervously. "Now, Guy, I can assure you that I did not do whatever it is you are complaining about." Guy fumed in frustration.

"Is it not obvious? My Garments of Youth are PINK!"

"I thought it was just another one of your phases," Kakashi stated calmly. Guy cried tears of depression and ran out of the room as Naruto walked in with a bright smile. "Naruto, that is just a cruel thing to do." The blonde shrugged.

"I dunno, I just felt like lightening the mood lately," Naruto explained. Shikamaru gave a thumbs up, muttering a barely audible " _troublesome"_ before continuing his relaxation.

"Right… Well, Mifune is ready to teach you and Shikamaru some sword-fighting techniques if you are ready." Naruto nodded excitedly and Shikamaru groaned.

"Can we not?" Shikamaru complained. Kakashi sweatdropped. Just a while ago Shikamaru was wanting to get stronger. Now he just wanted to sleep on Kakashi's couch. Naruto meanwhile was pulling Shikamaru off the couch by the collar of his flak jacket. "Naruto! Stop!" Shikamaru shouted with a mixture of frustration and laughs.

"We gotta go Shikamaru! It's important and we'll be totally badass!" Shikamaru just smiled as Naruto dragged him out of the room, leaving Kakashi alone. He could hear the two joking around and chuckling as they walked down the hall, and heard Shikamaru agree that it would be kind of badass, making Naruto cheer in joy.

"They grow up so fast."

"-and then we're gonna be like Ninja-Samurai that will be remembered for all time!" Naruto exclaimed, somewhat ending his rant. Shikamaru shook his head in amusement. He wasn't wrong, Naruto would be remembered that way, but not him. He wouldn't admit it, but Shikamaru did think it sounded pretty cool. Naruto's ten minute rant on the way to the training grounds only hyped the Nara up more. Regardless, he wasn't looking forward to working his butt off every day. That was more of Naruto's thing.

The two turned a corner to find Mifune standing in the middle of the street. His sword was drawn and a straw hat covered his eyes. Naruto and Shikamaru stopped and looked at him strangely. "I didn't know he would be meeting us here," Naruto murmured. Shikamaru shrugged in response and took a step forward. Mifune shot an aggressive look their way and charged towards them, making the boys yelp and turn to run.

Mifune chased behind them quickly, keeping pace with them as they turned corners and cutting through alleys. "Is this part of the training?" Shikamaru called out. His only response was small knives being thrown at their feet. The two picked up their feet with each stride and cut through another alley to avoid being impaled.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted, "I think he's crazy!" Shikamaru only grunted in response as a knife whistled by both of their ears. They turned to look behind them and saw that the Samurai was gone. The two stopped and looked around. Left? No. Right? No. Up? No. There was no sign of him. Shikamaru backed up against the wall of the alley and listened carefully for any irregular sounds.

"I don't like it-" A sharp whistle sounded out through the alley as a sword pierced through the wall beside Shikamaru. The Nara pushed off the wall and ran towards Naruto, who was already on his way out of the alley. "Found him!"

"No kiddin'!" A rope appeared off the floor in the middle of the alley and grew taut as they ran into it, tripping them over. They grunted in pain and annoyance as a sword appeared in front of both of their throats. Above them, Mifune held a sword in each hand, a displeased expression on his face.

"Great ninja, abysmal swordsmen," he stated. He turned around and walked away, motioning for the two to follow.

"We didn't have a sword," Naruto murmured.

Mifune lead them to their usual training grounds before turning to face them. His face was stoic and his posture was proud as he unsheathed his sword held it out horizontally. "This is not a toy. This is not a tool. This is your life. It is the very thing that you will rely on when you are in utmost need. It will have your back when no one else does. It will guide you through a fight with a finesse that will lead you to your victories. This is your best friend, and you will treat it as such. Are we understanding one another?" Shikamaru nodded while Naruto eyed the man skeptically. The man took the sword maybe a little too seriously.

"Now, you will not start with a sword. You will start with a stick."

…

"A stick." Naruto repeated stoically.

"A stick." Mifune confirmed. He tossed Naruto a crooked stick that looked as though it would easily break in half upon any impact. "That stick is not just a stick. That stick is your best friend. You are not just hitting your opponent with that stick, but you are slicing your opponent with that stick. You are defeating him with finesse, not brute force… With that stick." Naruto gave him an inane look.

"With this stick?" Naruto emphasised, holding up the stick to Mifune. Mifune narrowed his eyes and swiped the stick with his sword, chopping it in half.

"Your best friend's dead. Run laps until I say not to." The Samurai stated lazily. Shikamaru looked on with an amused, but slightly confused expression. This man was obviously crazy.

"What? Since when were broken sticks worth running laps?" Naruto bellowed out.

"Since we used them to create fire! Now run!" Mifune commanded. Naruto grumbled under his breath but began to run around the clearing. "Now, Shikari…"

"Shikamaru." The Nara corrected. He was crazy and old.

"It matters not. This is your best friend," Mifune said, tossing Shikamaru a stick that looked just as fragile, if not more so, than the one Naruto was given. "Unlike your bizarre blonde of a friend, I do trust that you will NOT let your best friend break into pieces?" Shikamaru sent the man a look of disbelief.

"What are you talking about? You broke his sti-"

 _Snap._

Shikamaru gasped in frustration as he watched the end half of his stick fly into the air via the man's foot. "How unfortunate." Mifune stated. "Laps." Shikamaru growled and turned to run, just as Naruto began his second lap.

"Strange one, come." Naruto stopped running and shot him an angry glare. "Now, stick number two. Let's see if it lasts longer than fifteen seconds." He handed Naruto the second stick, similar to the last one. Naruto took the stick and stood there for a few seconds, Shikamaru running past him in the background.

"Erm. What do I do with it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. I didn't think you'd make it this far." Naruto looked on stupidly before he fumed and squeezed the stick, causing it to shatter in his hand. "Ah! There it is! Have fun!" Mifune said with a smile, giving a small wave to the blonde.

"Mother fu-" Naruto began as he began running again.

* * *

The two teens sat down back to back, leaning on the other, with tired looks on their faces. Their bodies aching and their prides wounded, they half listened to Mifune lecturing them on the ' _finesse'_ of a sword. They had ran and broken sticks all afternoon and now the sun was setting. Their entire day was spent dealing with this madman. They had made progress to the point that their stick would last maybe thirty seconds, but Mifune always found a way to break it before they could get into the real stuff. If they continued this pace, they would run out of sticks, and possibly trees.

Naruto had figured out towards the end that Mifune was doing it on purpose, and that they were supposed to keep him or anything else from breaking the stick, to which Shikamaru just scoffed and said " _No shit"_.

"Now that it is getting dark, we will try something _fun_ ," Mifune said mischievously. Naruto threw his head back and let out a burst of steam through his nose while Shikamaru just slumped over to a nice, comfortable sleeping position. "You will take these best friends," he handed them both a large stick, "and you will spar me." Naruto perked up at those words as Mifune grabbed a stick for himself.

"Go."

Naruto jumped backwards away from the Samurai, and immediately realized the biggest problem. He couldn't see anything. The sun had set and now it was a dark dusk, with Shikamaru and Mifune both blending into the foliage. It was overly difficult though. His trained eyes could normally see even at midnight. "Genjutsu?"

"No. Just timing." Naruto spun around and dodge a diagonal swipe from Mifune's stick. The old man then swiped his foot, which Naruto hopped over, and then switched his diagonal swipe into an uppercut. The stick hit against Naruto's chin, causing the blonde to wince a bit and retaliate with a strike of his own. Mifune glided his own weapon against Naruto's, setting it just enough to the side to where Mifune placed his knuckles into Naruto's nose.

Shikamaru then struck from behind and tried lunging his stick into Mifune's back. Mifune stepped to the side, using his stick to push Naruto's away simultaneously. Naruto slumped forward from the shift in weight and Shikamaru's lunge landed in Naruto's gut. The blonde slumped to the floor and Shikamaru's stick was snapped in half from the impact. "Laps, Shikychu." Shikamaru groaned and began to run, only to get slapped on the calf with a stick.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru called out.

"I did not say it would be an easy lap! Now run!"

Naruto, meanwhile, stood up and saw Shikamaru running from an attacking Mifune around the clearing. "This old man really is crazy." He took off towards them.

Shikamaru turned around and attempted to roundhouse kick his sensei, only for the man to duck underneath it and uppercut Shikamaru in the most private of places with his stick. "Leaving yourself exposed is not ideal when one has a weapon with such long reach." Shikamaru groaned in pain and slumped down. Suddenly, Naruto tackled Mifune from the side, causing the two to slide several feet.

"That was a perverted comment and you know it!" Naruto shouted as he hopped off of Mifune. The sensei did not look amused, and swiped at Naruto's feet, causing the blonde to jump back. Naruto lunged forward and delivered a diagonal strike to Mifune, he parried it with his own diagonal uppercut. Naruto's stick shattered on the impact.

"You really are a bad best friend, Naruto."

The young Sage growled and picked another stick up off the ground, this one longer and thicker. "Are you sure you like that one?" Mifune quipped. Naruto only grunted and stepped forward, causing Mifune to swap his feet around and start circling the blonde. "Good. Use your feet." Naruto stepped back and matched Mifune's steps exactly. The two circled a few moments before Mifune pivoted forward, then to the right, then kicked Naruto's feet out from under him.

"You cannot just copy as I do, Naruto. You cannot be consistent in a sword fight, or else the opponent will discover your patterns in movement. I understood my own movements and was able to counter them when I saw you imitate it. You must be unpredictable. You should know, I've heard."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and quickly stood up, continuing the circle around Mifune. He watched as the Samurai's feet shifted slightly into a pivot, but then they relaxed and continued the circle. He was playing with him. Naruto pivoted his foot and walked in a straight line towards Mifune. He delivered a high strike towards Mifune's head, causing the man to parry with a high block. Naruto shifted is stick to the side, Mifune's own stick following, then shifted his weight forward to go underneath the parry and get into a close proximity to Mifune. The sensei looked impressed and tried to take a step back, but Naruto followed with a diagonal step to end up closer and to Mifune's side. The blonde attempted delivering a punch to Mifune's rib, while Shikamaru came from the side and attempted a stab at Mifune's face. The Samurai smirked and put ducked underneath Shikamaru's strike while he still held Naruto's in place, then thrust his elbow into Naruto's wrist, causing his attempted punch to fall short due to a tingling arm. He then took his now free hands and smacked Shikamaru on the side of the face with his stick.

"Well that was interesting. You are both skilled in your instincts, but have obviously never fought a samurai in any form of sword duel. You need to stop being so stiff and let the sword carry you." Naruto just blanched at the lecture and lied down on his back, while Shikamaru leaned against a tree.

"Easy for you to say, old man. We still don't know the purpose of this whole stick thing," Naruto groaned out. Mifune sighed and shook his head.

"The purpose is for you to flow naturally. Your sword should glide along the enemy's skin and form slices and cuts. You cannot hack an enemy to death with forceful strikes if they have any talent in swordfighting. You must flow." Mifune explained.

"Right, but how does breaking our sticks prove that?" Shikamaru asked. Must he spell it out for these children?

"Any unorthodox strike you land will shatter your stick. Any sloppy parry, any sloppy strike, will cause your stick to shatter."

Naruto and Shikamaru both nodded their heads in understanding. It was forcing them to _flow._ It was forcing them to use the finesse that Mifune was using. They were attempting to lunge and slice as if they were using kunai, when they needed to be using the length and advantages of a longer weapon.

"Naruto," Mifune held up his stick vertically in a blocking position, "hit this stick." Naruto stood up and walked over to Mifune, getting into a regular fighting stance and striking the stick. The impact caused both sticks to shatter and fall to the ground. As Naruto prepared to take a lap, Mifune stopped him.

"No, pick up another." Both picked up another stick. "Now. Again. Hit the stick." Naruto frowned, but took a fighting stance again. Did he want him to hit the stick softly? Naruto tapped his stick against Mifune's gently, causing the Samurai to narrow his eyes in a disbelieving manner. "I am defeated. Oh how my foe has proven his mighty skills."

"Oh come on! How am I supposed to hit it without break-" Mifune tapped Naruto's stick with his own, with force but fluidity. Next thing he knew, Mifune was beside him instead of in front of him.

"You glide, Naruto! Finesse! You do not frontal attack over and over until you get it right! You strike to find an opening, not to break his guard, but to get around it!" Understanding swept across Naruto's face. It was, in a way, like his clones. Find a weakness and exploit it. "Shikamaru." The Nara nodded and stepped forward.

Shikamaru stepped forward with his left foot, making Mifune take a slight step back. Earlier, Naruto had made Mifune uncomfortable by getting inside of Mifune's range, so his style is meant to keep the opponent at a distance and use reach to your advantage. While Shikamaru liked keeping his opponents at a distance, he knew that it was the best choice. He attempted a kick towards Mifune's midline and made the Samurai step back away from it. Shikamaru stepped forward and tried to deliver another. Mifune caught the kick instead this time, so Shikamaru bent his knee, pulling Mifune towards him. Mifune quickly let go, but Shikamaru already lunged forward and got inside of his attack range, sending a strike towards Mifune's neck. However, before it landed, Mifune only lifted his stick to parry. He countered Shikamaru's strike with a swift knee into the gut.

"Pathetic! You are focusing too much on sticks when you should be focusing on me! A swordsman must use more than just his sword! As a Ninja you would have dodged these simple attacks, but you are so focused on your weapon that you forget the most basic fundamentals that are necessary to survive! Absolutely pathetic!" Naruto and Shikamaru both were seated, their eyes on the ground. It was true, the fact that they were using "swords" affected their style and tactics. Mifune wasn't trying to teach them a totally different style. He was teaching them to incorporate swordsmanship into their own styles. They needed to remember their skills as a Ninja.

"Go home. Tomorrow, we will train more," Mifune's voice was tired as he turned towards his temporary home, leaving the boys alone in the clearing.

Naruto sat still, looking at his now shattered stick in his hand. Mifune so easily countered everything he did, but if he were fighting like a Ninja he would have won. He felt like a genin again, but this time he could make the simple, but important changes that were needed to get better.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, stared up at the appearing stars in the night sky. He found the one that stood out the most to him and watched it with an intense focus. While they weren't clouds, stars were very beautiful and always seemed to tell a story. He remembered Asuma telling him something about them once that he'd never forget.

"Asuma once told me that the stars held more emotion than anything we could find in the world," Shikamaru began. Naruto looked towards him, then up at the stars with a piqued curiosity. "The stars have been around always, they've seen us grow up. They've seen our loss, they'll see us lose our lives. All the tragedy in the world, the stars have seen it. It makes me wonder, Naruto."

Naruto paused a moment. "Wonder what?"

"What is more common? Tragedy, or happiness?" Shikamaru replied. Naruto didn't answer, looking back towards the stars. They had watched his father be born, Jiraiya be born, him be born. They had watched those happy moments, only to watch his father and Jiraiya make the ultimate sacrifice. That was just silly talk though, wasn't it? Stars can't feel. Naruto did find a feeling of comfort in it though. It was comforting to know that the stars truly understood the pain that Naruto had been through. Minato, Asuma, Jiraiya. The stars understood what it felt like to the ones who lost them. They understood the sacrifice.

"Tragedy." Shikamaru answered his own question firmly. "Definitely tragedy." Naruto still did not answer.

* * *

Naruto opened the door to the Hokage's office, only to see a dark room with a vacant desk in the middle. He flipped on the light and walked in, looking at the organized paperwork on the desk, and a little orange book in an open drawer. Chuckling slightly, Naruto closed the drawer and sat on the chair. It was normally seen as disrespectful, but Kakashi always allowed it, much to the disdain of most. "Can't let anyone see that smut," Naruto told himself. He smirked and turned to look out the window at all the lights below. The Leaf was beautiful at night, especially from this window. To think, that one day he could look out this window from this chair every night as it's leader, was purely amazing.

The young Sage leaned back and formed the Rasengan in his hand. His father's technique. Ever since he learned that the Fourth Hokage was his father, he felt at peace when he formed a Rasengan. He felt like it was his greatest connection to Jiraiya and Minato. He split the Rasengan into five orbs again, and twiddled them around his fingers, watching in wonder as they swirled in a rhythmic pattern.

This one technique, and he could learn so much from it. His new lightning technique, and the Spiralling Shuriken. Then these little variations that could create a whole new tier of techniques themselves. Five Spiralling Shurikens! A hailstorm of Spiralling Shurikens! He didn't even want to think about the chakra control necessary for that.

He wished that his dad and Jiraiya could see this. He wished they could see how strong he had become. How he had evolved their technique into something legendary. The only others who knew the technique and the difficulty in the task he had achieved were Konohamaru and Kakashi. Naruto smiled. Kakashi was there still, and he knew that his sensei was proud. He would get stronger. So that he could protect the closest person to family he had in his life.

"You know, the blue really brings out the family resemblance." Naruto turned around to see Kakashi sitting on the couch in a lazy posture, his foot propped up and his back against the arm. "I think it's the eyes. When the Rasengan reflects off your eyes, it looks like a storm, just like Minato's eyes. A spiralling storm."

Naruto looked back down towards his hand, the Rasengans still swirling. Spiralling Storm. "Spiralling Storms."

"Hm?"

"Kakashi, you're a genius. Spiralling Storms!" Naruto stood up from the chair, dispelling his Rasengans as he ran out of the room. Kakashi rose his eyebrow before following. The blonde led him up to the roof, and he watched as Naruto formed his miniature Rasengans on each finger.

Kakashi looked on in amusement as his student applied lightning chakra into each sphere, vibrating each one like he had before with the Rasengan. "I couldn't control one big ball of energy because it overloaded! Like putting too much air into a balloon. If I separate the energy though…" The orbs all started to spiral lightning, and Naruto began to spiral the orbs around each other. The orbs spiralled around so fast that it almost looked as if it were in the form of a Rasengan itself.

Kakashi summoned a clone and gave Naruto a nod. The blonde plunged the technique into the clone, and Kakashi's eyes widened in disbelief. The orbs separated at great speeds inside the clone's body once Naruto thrust the technique into it, and arcs of lightning exploded from each orb. The clone's entire body cooked from the inside out, lightning emerging from his skin and connecting along his fingers. A truly terrifying technique.

The two looked on in fascination as the clone dispelled, and Kakashi's jaw dropped as he saw the electrical currents still there in the shape of his clone for a moment before fading out. The lightning had connected from each orb by using the energy inside his clone's body to travel. That technique would kill on contact.

"I am going to state the obvious here, Naruto." Kakashi turned to his student and patted him on the head. "Only use that technique if you are planning to completely eviscerate your opponent."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I probably should be careful with that one. It still isn't the main technique though. The real one is a lot harder to control and I only have a small timeframe in which I can use it after forming it. If not, it will explode." The Spiralling Storm itself was the technique he originally was working on. Spiralling Storms seemed to be a lot easier to control and extremely effective, but Spiralling Storm was a lot more deadly and large.

"Increasing your chakra control may help with that. Also getting used to the lightning affinity will stabilize your lightning chakra given time." Naruto nodded in agreement. With enough practice, he could really turn this into something no one has ever seen before. "I am going to sleep. You should probably do the same." Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Naruto realized how late it was. It had been a couple hours since the sun had set, and he realized just how tired he actually was.

Beginning the trek home, Naruto began to let his mind wander. His new power, his new title, his new life really. He had taken the Rasengan and turned it into an S-Rank technique. He had become an S-Rank Ninja. Hell, his life was an S-Ranked life. Going to the store was an S-Rank if you took into account how many fans he had to squeeze through.

Then there were his friends. He never thought that he would be where he was now. He always thought that Team 7 would be his family, the people he had the biggest bond with. Now it was as though Kakashi and Shikamaru were his brothers, not Sasuke in the slightest. Shikamaru and him had grown so close lately that it was weird when they weren't around each other. Their personalities just meshed well, even though a lot about them was opposite from the other.

Then again, they didn't always mesh well. Shikamaru often found Naruto to be troublesome, and vice versa. In the end though, it always turned out to be a good laugh and the two never disliked each other.

All in all, Naruto was definitely enjoying life right now, but knew it wouldn't last. He was training for an impending war, after all. Things wouldn't stay normal long, so he was learning to cherish the simple things. Not that they stayed simple often, he made sure of that himself. An evil smirk played across his lips. In fact, he still had a prank for Kakashi that he had been looking forward to. It felt a little bad to destroy one of Jiraiya's books, but Naruto had a ton of those things in his apartment that Pervy Sage had always 'gifted' him with. It's all in good fun anyways.

Naruto looked up to see that he had already arrived at his front door. He had been zoned out the entire way. He took out his keys and unlocked his door, walking in to find just darkness and silence. He blindly walked towards the couch and tossed his cloak and jacket onto the back of it, leaving him in his fishnet shirt. Sighing, he plopped down onto the couch only to feel something hard dig into his back.

"Ouch." He heard a feminine voice from behind him. Sakura? He let his eyes adjust a moment, barely making out her lidded emerald eyes. "That was my knee, idiot."

Naruto was about to apologize, but stopped himself and gave her a funny look. "And you are in my house, why?" He asked politely.

Sakura yawned and propped herself up, rubbing her eyes with her fists and running her fingers through her hair. "Because I was training and your house is closer to the training fields. And because I only see you like, once every couple years anymore." It was largely exaggerated, but it was true that they didn't talk often.

"I'm busy more often than not lately, my bad." He leaned back on the opposite armrest that she leaned against, facing each other.

"I get that, it's just that you have plenty of time for Kakashi and Shikamaru."

"Well yeah. Kakashi put 'hang out with Kakashi-sensei' in my job description so I kinda have to." Both laughed a moment before the apartment grew awkwardly silent. He could tell that she felt left out as always. She hated being left out, and he knew that, but what could he do?

"Sounds like something Kakashi would put there. No job description like that for me though." Sakura sighed and curled her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs. Naruto guessed it made her feel protected or something.

"Well, Sakura. You gotta just stop feeling sorry for yourself and move forward, ya know?" Naruto propped his hands behind his head and looked her dead in the eye. "I know you want to feel important. I know to be a part of 'Team 7' but you gotta know, Sakura. It isn't Team 7 anymore." Sakura bit her lip and hugged herself tighter. She knew it wasn't, but it scared her. "I am near Kakashi because I am his advisor and his friend. Not because I am his equal in Team 7 or anything ridiculous like that. I am near you right now because you sneak your way into my house, because we're family, right? You can't feel bad about being left out of Team 7 because Team 7 doesn't exist. We are family, but we are not a team."

Sakura frowned. "That isn't what I meant."

"Right. You sleeping on the couch or do you want the bed?"

"Well, Ino and I sometimes sleep on the couch opposite from one another. The only bad part is that we wake up with feet in each other's faces."

Naruto rose an eyebrow. That sounded utterly ridiculous. "How the hell are we both going to fit on a couch? I am not a petite little Ino, ya know."

"Well I don't know! Why not use the bed instead then?"

"Why do we gotta sleep while playing footsie in the first place? Why can't one of us take the couch?"

"I thought it would be fun!"

"If you want the bed you can have the bed, ya know! I just don't see the point in sleeping together!"

Sakura groaned and stood up, walking towards the bedroom. "I am taking your bed! Now you can choose to come sleep in the 'footsie' position or you can sleep on the couch! Mr. I Am Boring!"

Naruto blanched at the suggestion. "I am not boring!" He folded his arms and got comfortable on the couch, making Sakura groan in annoyance and close the bedroom door. Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed a moment before they quickly opened again. "Hey!" She took his bed! She played him!

"No take backs!" He heard a muffled call out from his room. That woman was troublesome.

* * *

 _Things are so sweet and cute right now. How adorable._

 _Tsk tsk tsk._

 _No but really, I know the serious stuff is due soon. It'll happen, trust me._


	8. Chapter 8

What is up everyone!? Hope y'all are having a good one, I know I am!

So, about last chapter. Some of you seemed a little put off with the fact that Naruto and Shikamaru "sucked" at using weapons considering they are ninja. You are right, that would be weird. However, they didn't really suck, as most of those moves would work against an average person. Mifune though, he is a master. It would be like a mother, who is a great person all around, cooks for her children and does general work around the house, and asking her to have a cook off vs. Gordon Ramsey. She may be a great cook, but she can't compete with a chef who spends his entire life perfecting his craft.

So last chapter, it wasn't as though Naruto and Shikamaru were fighting badly, it's just that this master of the sword kicked their asses. They trained to be ninja, he trained to be a swordsman.

I was a good Quarterback, a well rounded and smart football player, but if you told me to tackle a linebacker I would probably die. If you told him to throw a ball and hit me in the chest he'd probably hit someone in the stands. Kinda get it now?

Alrighty then! On to the story! Hope you enjoy this one!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

" _You've gotta be kiddin' me Pervy Sage! There is no way I'm goin' in there!"_

" _Look here, kid. You've got to learn information gathering, and I just happen to be an expert! My spy network is unrivaled in all the nations, and I am going to teach you everything I know!"_

" _By taking me into a whorehouse!?"_

" _Brothel, Naruto. Brothel."_

" _Same shit!"_

Naruto sat with his back against the tree next to his master's grave, his arms propped on his legs. The collar of his cloak hid most of his face, and his eyes were barely visible. He held a stoic expression on his face as he recalled some of the most ridiculous but fond memories of his godfather.

Jiraiya wasn't the greatest role model and did have some odd tendencies, but he had a good heart that held the best intentions for Naruto. He had his odd ways of showing it, but the message was clear.

" _You know, miss. I am the one who wrote the famous Make Out series." Jiraiya stated with a playful smirk._

" _Infamous." Naruto murmured under his breath, earning him a swat on the back of the head._

" _Really? My husband loves those books, and I give them a read every now and then." The woman gave Jiraiya a sly wink, and the Sage gave a victorious smirk._

" _All of it comes from experience and expertise. I really do try my best for my fans." Jiraiya took her hand and kissed it softly. Naruto blanched._

" _You really must share your wisdom, Lord Jiraiya."_

" _That is IT!" Naruto stood up and stormed away with a face like a tomato. Jiraiya only laughed as the woman led him away from the booth. As Naruto waited outside the brothel, he fumed as snow piled onto his head and melted, making him soaked to the bone. This only deepened his anger for his perverted master at the moment._

" _Stupid pervert. 'I wrote the Make Out series'," he mocked, "want me to show you how I wrote it? I'll show you with my dick!" Random villagers gave Naruto an odd look as they walked by, watching him have his own mocking two sided conversation with himself. "Oh I would love that!" He said in a girly high pitched voice. "Did you write it with your dick?"_

" _Oh yes! But it's so far up my ass most of the time that I have to clean it off first! Just like it can be so far up yo-" He stopped as he saw Jiraiya walk out of the brothel with a confident and victorious smile on his face._

" _Well brat! I know how to find the sealing technique we are looking for!"_

" _How the hell did you do that?"_

" _With my expertise of course, Naruto. My glorious expertise."_

Naruto bit his lip and kept any tears from escaping his eyes, keeping them behind a dam. Just like he kept most of his emotions recently. Jiraiya had taught him a less mature way to collect information of course. Naruto never wanted to give away something so special to random women throughout the world. He didn't want to be a pervert. While Naruto didn't really know how he could use those teachings himself, he knew they would come in handy someday. Especially now, on the brink of war.

Then there was Jiraiya teaching him to control Kyuubi's chakra, as if that worked well. Now how would he even contain Kyuubi? He had no mentor, no expert, nothing. All he had was himself, as he was the last jinchuuriki other than the Eight-Tails, who was part of the village that hated The Leaf right now. Not to mention even they didn't know where B was.

Jiraiya always seemed to have the answer to a lot of things, but the Fox always perplexed him. Those were Naruto's favorite moments, because then it wasn't all Jiraiya. They would work as a team to find solutions to those kind of problems, and it made Naruto feel closer to the Pervy Sage than ever before.

" _Maybe if I knock you out?" Jiraiya suggested._

" _No, remember? It's only when I am in danger. Life threatening."_

" _So, maybe if I knock you out with a rock?"_

" _We're trying to help me survive, not kill me, Pervy Sage!"_

" _I'm seriously considering it you brat!"_

 _Naruto growled as both him and Jiraiya butted heads. They had been trying all week to find out how to communicate with the Fox, or at least get it's power. All they had accomplished were a few bruises, mental exhaustion, and extreme frustration._

" _Yeah? That will really get the Fox out! Won't it?" Naruto scoffed and sat down with his legs crossed. "Stupid pervert."_

 _Jiraiya mulled over what different things they could try to attempt to reach the Fox. There was meditating, but Naruto was far too impatient for that right now. Then there was killing him, but that was risky for the both of them. He could try… Hm._

" _What if I just summon him?"_

 _Jiraiya face faulted at the suggestion. "Are you crazy!? Even if that WAS successful, do you want us to die?"_

 _Naruto shrugged._

" _The idiocy! You're just gonna have to meditate and figure it out yourself! We're gonna do this thing together, Naruto. I forbid you from attempting to summon giant evil demons." Naruto smiled brightly and gave a firm nod. Jiraiya would never admit that he also had the same idiotic idea only moments ago._

Naruto chuckled. Their arguments were truly legendary. If only they could make that a book. Then, he remembered the time that Jiraiya had horribly sang that song for a group of refugees they were escorting out of the Land of Snow. They had travelled there for a brief time so that Jiraiya could look into a lead there about Akatsuki. Normally they steered clear of the organization, but they supposedly found a jinchuuriki there, which was false. Jiraiya wanted to see the toll the extraction took on the host.

It was one of Naruto's most fond memories, and it truly showed the real Jiraiya.

 _Jiraiya blushed as everyone cheered him on to sing a song for them. Normally the Sage was very outgoing but he knew that he had an awful singing voice. One of the refugees handed him a lute and begged him to play a song for them. Naruto had even grown interested as he watched his master start to pick at the strings of the instrument._

" _Don't laugh. Promise you won't laugh!" Everyone laughed heartily but promised they would not make fun of his song. Naruto smiled slightly as Jiraiya cleared his throat with great exaggeration before flashing everyone a somber smile._

 _Three legends wander, oh yes they wander_

 _Years pass by, and still they ponder_

 _As they walk, their legends grow_

 _But no one knows, where these wanderers go._

 _For what are legends, without their story_

 _What are legends, without a home_

 _They are wanderers, with boundless glory_

 _Yet still those legends, feel alone._

 _Two legends wander, oh yes they wander_

 _Years pass by, and still they ponder_

 _As they walk, their legends fade_

 _Goes to show, all legends grey._

 _For what are legends, without their color_

 _What are legends, without a home_

 _They are wanderers, they've lost another_

 _Now these legends, truly are alone._

 _One legend wanders, oh yes she wanders_

 _Years pass by, and still she ponders_

 _As she crawls, her legends pass_

 _No one listens, to this legend's last._

 _For what are legends, without their brothers_

 _What are legends, without a home_

 _They are wanderers, they've lost each other_

 _Now this last legend, she dreams of home._

 _One legend fights, oh yes he fights_

 _Years pass by, and still he strives_

 _As he walks, his legend rises_

 _The legacy, of his kin survives._

 _For what are legends, without their story_

 _What are legends, without a hymn_

 _He's a fighter, with boundless glory_

 _I pray to this legend, surpass your kin._

Naruto let the tears fall. Years ago he knew the song was about Jiraiya, but he hadn't realized the end was about himself. As he remembered the flames reflecting off of his master's face, he cried. The true pain on his teacher, yet the hope in his eyes, was all too much for Naruto.

Naruto gripped a handful of grass in his hand as tears flowed down his cheeks, before swiftly standing up and punching the tree, the blades of grass in his hand slowly gliding to the ground. "Damn you! You damned pervert!" He screamed to the heavens. "How could you entrust this to me? How could you do this to your godson! How could you leave me alone to fight this!?" He punched the tree again and again, his knuckles grew bloody and his knees grew weak as he cried and cried. He leaned against the tree and slumped to the ground.

As he landed in the grass beneath him, he heard a slight snap. He looked up to see his old perverted sage with a split popsicle in his hand, offering one to Naruto. As the young Sage blinked, he saw familiar white hair, and a black mask covering the man's face. The Hokage held his hand out, giving Naruto a knowing look as the blonde took his hand. "You're not alone, Naruto. I'm going to be here, and I am going to fight with you every step of the way."

Naruto hugged his sensei, his Hokage, tightly. "I thought he would be here every step too." Naruto cried.

"He is. You just can't see him, Naruto. You have to feel." Kakashi stepped back and looked to the clouds. "I really, really miss your dad. I miss the woman I loved. I miss my best friend. I miss the author to my favorite book. They're watching us though, and they're entrusting us to make the world a better place." Kakashi looked back down to Naruto and gave him his trademark eye smile. "We'll kick the world's ass if it resists, yeah?"

Naruto looked at his friend funny, then laughed loudly. The trees echoed the laugh back to them, and Kakashi laughed too. "Yeah," Naruto said, "we'll teach it a thing or two about peace with a thorough ass kicking." Both laughed at the irony of that statement.

* * *

A knock sounded out through the Hokage's office. Kakashi immediately sat up right from his nap on the desk and Naruto did the same from his couch. Shikamaru stayed asleep. "Erm, come in!" Kakashi called out. Yamato walked into the room with Yugao Uzuki, a purple haired swordswoman in Anbu.

"Kakashi, I apologize that I did not arrive yesterday. I was delayed in helping the Hyuga's with their constructions." Kakashi waved it off then looked at Yugao.

"I have come to deliver my report of the Leaf's borders."

"Ah! Right. Well then let me hear it, then I'll get to you Yamato. Take a seat." Yugao and Yamato both moved to take a seat on the couches but saw that Shikamaru was taking up one of them. Yamato groaned and awkwardly sat down next to Yugao, shooting a glare at the napping Nara.

Yugao pulled out a detailed report of her mission and handed it to Naruto, who read over it briefly. "The Land of Wave has had trouble with pirate groups. Apparently, with all the commotion throughout the ninja villages, groups like these have grown confident that the Kages are distracted with more important matters."

"They are unfortunately correct. How troublesome." Kakashi stated, motioning for her to continue.

"Meanwhile, the Land of Rain has had trouble convincing the Tsuchikage to stay out of their land. The Land of Rivers has had troubling reports of… Um… _Cannibal Bandits_. Which I thought was ridiculous."

Naruto read that portion of the report simultaneously and gave an odd look at the paper. "The hell? That's an understatement! They wear the faces of their previous victims when they hunt?" Kakashi grimaced at the picture and Shikamaru groaned at what he had woken up to.

"Yes. Less of a hunt and more of a massacre. Their leader is unknown."

"Are they unorganized or organized? There could be the possibility that they have no leader," Kakashi took that page of the report from Naruto, who kept the rest and read on.

"Very organized. They've been slowly moving North towards the Rain, leaving a wake of deserted towns behind."

"So the Rain has both the Earth Country and River Country to deal with. That's two different kinds of wars on two fronts," Shikamaru stated.

"Yes, but lucky for the Rain, their Eastern border is our Western border. I'll send a group there soon to investigate," Kakashi said, resulting in an agreement throughout the room. "Anything else?"

Yugao nodded. "Sasuke Uchiha was spotted in the Land of Wind, heading South."

"South?" Kakashi questioned. "Odd."

"All there is to the South is the Land of Moon, overseas. Or Sea Country." Yamato included his two cents, and Kakashi pondered what Sasuke could want in either of those countries.

"Well, I am not sending anyone to the Sea or the Moon to chase after him. We have far too many problems to deal with. So that's our East, West and Northwest covered. What about the Land of Lightning to the Northeast?"

"Lightning has made no moves against us, no moves for us. They are sitting tight, constantly looking for their Jinchuuriki, B." Yugao informed.

"B is heading straight towards the Land of Fire from what I'm seeing here," Naruto added, "he is heading Southwest, in the Land of Bears right now and almost into the Land of Whirlpools."

"Whirlpools? Is he coming here?" Yamato questioned.

"He knows that Naruto is the last Jinchuuriki aside from himself. So yeah, probably." Kakashi answered. "What about the Land of Waterfalls? They're also in between us and Earth, you'd think they'd establish an outpost."

"No sign of them there." Yugao stated.

"Odd."

"Though, they do have a bandit problem as well. Just not the cannibal kind." Naruto informed.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned.

The group looked on as Kakashi pulled a map out of a drawer in his desk, noting that Naruto had put his book away when he visited last night. Truly a helpful student. "Alright. Cannibals to the West, Sasuke to the South, Killer B to the North, Earth and bandits to the Northwest, pirates to the East."

"Sounds like a fun time," Shikamaru joked.

"A real blast," Naruto quipped.

"An amazing extravaganza," Shikamaru one-upped.

"A spectacular delight."

"A-"

Naruto stopped as Yamato turned his head to look at the blonde, his eyes wide and his face stoic. "Stop." Yamato said simply. Naruto nodded.

"Right… Well on that note, I'm going to provide a fix to our pirate problem in the Wave," Kakashi stated, "but it is going to require a few steps first."

"What do you have in mind?" Yamato asked. The silver haired Hokage tapped the Leaf a few times with his finger.

"I am going to re-establish, and improve, our police force." Kakashi placed a small star sticker onto the map. Where did he get a sticker? "And you are going to lead the Leaf division." Yamato sighed dramatically.

Naruto looked on curiously. A police force was risky, as it could make villagers believe that the village was panicking due to the current events in the world. Or it could provide a stability that has been lacking as of late. How would that help the Land of Waves though? If the Leaf had a police force here, it would improve security inside the village, but it wouldn't stretch all the way to the Wave.

Although, if Kakashi was planning on the police force to run missions throughout the Land of Fire it could work, but wouldn't that just be a ninja division at that point? Ninja already _policed_ the Elemental Nations via missions. So what would this do for the Wave what a ninja can't?

"While ninja are great, Samurai are capable," Kakashi began, "we will use Samurai as a temporary place holder for the Hidden Leaf Police Force. In the meantime, they will teach villagers who want a job as something less risky than a ninja. If we can have a Police Force in each major location then we can potentially increase security throughout the Land of Fire."

"So instead of ninja being the police, it is normal people who do not train their chakra?" Yamato was a bit confused on why they would not use ninja. It seemed as though this would put normal civilians in danger.

"Our ninja are preparing for war. We are already on the brink of a 3-way war and if it become a 4-way war, we will be in serious trouble. We must take care of the issues at home. Besides, our villagers have been wanting to do something heroic ever since the Hero of the Leaf saved their lives. They'll relish the opportunity to make a difference. We train the villagers as if it is another job in the village. Not to mention it will give them a little more confidence in themselves as a people."

"I don't… This seems unnecessary." Yamato judged, listening skeptically.

"At first it will be a bit tedious, but it can develop into a very organized anti-crime organization that can truly make a difference. What do you think, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto thought for a moment. It could work very well, or bomb from the start. No point in not trying. "It's good. It could work. But I don't see how this helps the Wave."

"We establish the first force, HLPF, in the Hidden Leaf. Then, we branch it to the Wave, and to whoever else requests it. Such as the Land of Hills or the Land of Tea. Eventually it can become a whole division for the Land of Fire and it's allies. Providing constant security to our homes." Kakashi explained. Well that sounded nice, and super convenient. This would somehow become an insanely difficult task if Naruto was around it at all.

"So, Yamato. I hereby declare you as Captain of the Hidden Leaf Police Force! Yugao, I declare you as Captain of the Land of Waves Police Force."

"Great." Yamato groaned.

"Naruto! You, Sakura, and Shikamaru will accompany Yugao to the Land of Waves. While she is establishing the Police force there, you will be taking care of this pirate ordeal. Understood?"

"Affirmative," Naruto mumbled.

"Good! You leave tomorrow!" That left two unhappy Jounin, a disgruntled Captain, and a scary emotionless Anbu in his office. "Uh. You all can go… Prepare and stuff. Now. Preferably. Please."

* * *

Naruto opened the door to his apartment, quickly closing it behind him and gathering a few things out of his kitchen. He put most of the equipment and food into storage seals, then placed the storage seals into his bag. He placed the bag next to his front door, along with his large scroll he carried with him, and placed his cloak over both of them.

Stretching a bit, he flopped onto his couch and let out a large sigh of relaxation. It had been a long day. Spending all morning with Pervy Sage, then all afternoon with Kakashi had left him mentally exhausted. He had almost no time to goof off anymore! Though, he did kind of like the slightly more mature Naruto. It was as if he was really growing up.

All that was behind him and ahead of him for now though, because right now he was just going to close his eyes and take a nice, sweet, relaxing nap.

…

Yeah, right.

Naruto's door opened and Shikamaru dragged his feet into his blonde friend's house, slamming the door behind him. "Damn. I am beat." Shikamaru dropped himself into Naruto's small armchair, his feet propped on one arm and his head on the other. "I don't know if I can do this whole advisor thing Naruto. It feels like I am more of a stress absorber for Kakashi. It's such a drag. So troublesome. So boring. So, meh."

Naruto gave the Nara an irritated look at having his nap delayed. Seriously, did people in the Leaf even have a sense of privacy? Couldn't they knock? Then again, that was kind of hypocritical of him. He had been doing the same thing to Kakashi. "It isn't too bad. I kind of like the responsibility."

"Well it's great and all, being important. It's just annoying."

"True."

Then, a comfortable silence enveloped the room. That's right, his nap wouldn't be delayed long. It was Shikamaru's hobby to sleep and watch clouds all day. This wouldn't be too bad. The two slowly drifted into a comfortable sleep.

Until the door slammed open and closed. "I am so exhausted!" Sakura exclaimed as she slumped onto the opposite side of the couch Naruto was on.

Both the boys groaned at the intrusion. "What. The. Absolute. Hell." Naruto groaned. "Knock. Knock. Knock."

"You. Don't. Have. To. Talk. Like. This. Idiot." Sakura countered, ending with a bonk on Naruto's head.

"Freaking crap. Fine. Just be quiet and sleep or something. We gotta head to the Land of Waves tomorrow morning." Sakura gave a whimper at that. She had been busy with medical duties for weeks and weeks. She needed some downtime. Though, at least a mission was a change of scenery. Especially to the peaceful Wave country.

"That doesn't sound too bad. What is the catch? Get it? Catch. Because Waves? Fish?" Sakura looked for a reaction to the pun.

"Pirates." Both boys responded in unison. Sakura felt dejected at the lack of attention for her pun, but didn't make a fuss of it.

"Always a catch."

Naruto rolled his eyes but smiled widely. While he may not like people barging into his home, he secretly loved the company he received. If Kakashi wasn't in his window, Shikamaru was on his chair. If Shikamaru wasn't on his chair, Sakura was on his couch. Kakashi was right after all, he wasn't totally alone.

"Ya know what? I love you guys," Naruto murmured as he drifted off. Sakura and Shikamaru both gave a slight gasp in surprise, looking over to see the blonde already fast asleep. They looked at each other a moment, before Shikamaru only smiled and went to sleep himself.

Sakura, however, kept looking at the sleeping Naruto. He truly was a special person. How he could endure so much pain and suffering and still be such a positive guy was beyond her. Tsunade had been in a coma, not dead, and Sakura still felt so depressed and lonely that it was unhealthy. She had found herself in Naruto's little apartment more than her own. She had looked to him for friendship and guidance more than ever, and it was tearing her apart that she didn't have her master to guide her.

Was Naruto feeling the same way and just not showing it? She wanted to know how he did it. She wanted to be like him so much. Strong, brave, heroic, happy. There were times where she caught him looking sad, of course. Whenever he saw that someone was watching though, he found that smile deep inside and let it show. Whether it was real or not, she didn't know.

How could someone so young and innocent turn into someone so powerful and sorrowful? He had learned that his father died to seal the Nine-Tails away into his own son. Finally he learned who his dad was, yet it only really confirmed that he didn't have one. He had no family, no true family.

If you told Naruto that, he would immediately deny it and say that the Leaf was his family, but most knew better. She definitely knew better, because she could see it in his eyes when he was tossed that three-pronged kunai weeks ago. He felt alone.

"Come on Naruto, you're going to be late!" Shikamaru shouted, banging on Naruto's bathroom door. Naruto groaned and begged for a couple more minutes. Sakura only laughed at the two's antics. Naruto had gotten the shower last, so of course it would be because of him that they were late. Not exactly his fault, but her and Shikamaru would still give him a hard time about it. What were friends for?

The blonde quickly exited the bathroom with a towel around his neck and pants on. He jogged to the front door, his two friends following him as he grabbed his bag and sealing scroll from next to the door. "Your cloak, Naruto." Shikamaru called out as he tossed Naruto his red cloak. The blonde gave a quick thank you before they quickly went out the door.

"We got three minutes. Time to run!" Naruto shouted as he took off. Shikamaru groaned, but picked up the pace. With Kakashi it was okay to be late. It was sort of a team understanding that Team 7 standard time was 2-3 hours late. With an Anbu though, there was no doubt that she would be punctual.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped. Both Shikamaru and Sakura struggled to stop as quickly as he did and nearly lost their footing in the loose dirt. "What's the big idea?" Sakura pestured. Naruto tilted his head and smiled.

"I wanna make a stop first. You go on ahead."

Sakura scoffed. "You've gotta be kidding me. We are already going to be barely on time. Make it quick?"

"No promises." Naruto replied. Then he was off.

Both Shikamaru and Sakura stood there with confused looks, before continuing towards the main gates. "What do you think that was about?" Shikamaru pondered.

"Probably forgot something, or went for a quick bite of ramen."

* * *

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Ino asked curiously. The blonde gave her a small smile before showing her a bright yellow flower.

"How much?" He asked. She could see his eyes watering a bit, but still he smiled. He looked fragile, which wasn't Naruto.

"On the house. You okay?" A small nod and wave was all he gave before he exited the shop. That was the oddest thing Ino ever experienced. She had never seen him quite like that before.

The young Sage walked into the Leaf's graveyard and looked around momentarily, finding the grave he was looking for. He walked towards it, each step heavy. He arrived to it and gripped the flower delicately.

Naruto stood in front of the large grave stone. The stone was larger than any of those around it, and had an aura of comfort around it. It stood several feet high and was in the shape of a flame, kunais at each tip.

On the front of the grave, a name and a description were written. The words meant the world to Naruto, even before he found out.

 _Minato Namikaze_

 _Fourth Hokage_

" _Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive."_

Naruto knelt down and set the yellow flower on his father's grave.

"I know your body isn't here. I know I don't have to come here for you to hear me." Naruto looked up to his father's face on the Hokage Monument. "I know you can't answer me. You gotta listen though, dad. You've just gotta, because I am so lost. Smiles can only do so much when you struggle every day. I want vengeance so bad, for you and Jiraiya. I want redemption. I want to kill this man, to tear him to pieces. You and Jiraiya said I would be the one to bring peace to the Nations, but all I want to do is kill him and everything he cares for. I wish I could find something he cares for. I want to destroy him."

Naruto looked back down to the grave, reading his father's name repeatedly.

"I don't know if I can create peace, I don't know if I can protect the Leaf, but I do know that I will give everything I have to try. I owe you both that much. You said that you believed in me, but I don't believe in myself all that much anymore. Even though everyone else does now, an entire village. Two villages. Three villages. What does it matter when you don't believe in yourself? It's all too much. How can I save an entire world? I haven't even seen all of it."

Giving out a long sigh of frustration, Naruto stood up and felt rain start to land in his hair. As his hair and cloak dampened, he took it as a sign to cry. His tears were hidden. "Just you watch dad. He's gonna regret messing with us. I need you to have my back though, ya know? You gotta have my back, dad."

Naruto reached into his kunai holder and held the three pronged kunai tightly in a fist. "We'll do it together, yeah?"

* * *

Yugao, Shikamaru, and Sakura stood at the gates, waiting impatiently. It had been an hour and a half since Naruto had left, and it left them standing in the rain. They assumed he meant he would be here in a few minutes, but here they were. One thing Shikamaru knew for certain, was that Yugao looked pissed, and a pissed woman was an awful thing to deal with. "Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. This was going to be tough.

He watched as he saw Naruto slowly walk towards them, travel ready. Naruto paid Yugao no attention though, as he walked by all of them without saying a word. His face had a determined, but lost in thought look. "Uzumaki." Yugao called out. Naruto did not answer, only continuing down the road out of the village. She growled in annoyance but followed. She heard that he often didn't pay attention to any chain of command. The arrogance.

"What's up?" She heard him say. She watched as he turned towards her, a large smile on his face. Yugao shook her head and followed him towards the Wave.

"You're ridiculously late."

"Yup! I know!"

Shikamaru chuckled. While it was annoying that he was so late, he figured it was pretty important to keep them waiting for over an hour. He trusted that Naruto wouldn't completely waste their time. Or would he? Whatever.

Naruto looked back at his companions. To his trusted friends. It was insane how they were returning to the Wave. He remembered when it was his first trip out of the village with Team 7, those were the old days. Now it was just him and Sakura. Well, really it was just Sakura. He was a Sage now. He would be returning to the Wave as a Sage.

It was crazy to think that he was known as a hero throughout the Elemental Nations. Either a hero or a villain anyways. It all started in the Wave, though. He has been a hero here for years. This was the first place that truly loved him for him.

Would they remember him? Would he remember them? Would they recognize each other? Who knows. All he knew was that he helped make the Wave amazing. He was a reason that the Land of Waves survived, and that made him feel... Well. Awesome. Pretty awesome.

Naruto would be damned if he let a few pirates ruin a land he cherished so much. "Alright! Let's go kick some ass!"

* * *

 **And scene!**

How'd yall like it? Review and let me know! That way I can fix anything that needs fixing!

This is the chapter that really sets the tone of the story, I know it has a little more feels and seriousness in it. There will still be goofy moments, but it will really start kicking off from here on out.

Love y'all! Appreciate the love for the story!


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, one word a day and it is finally done!**

 **… No really my bad. New job, Game of Thrones, my own book I have been writing... It's been a lot. But, I gotta make up for lost time, ya know? So this next week, I am planning on releasing a couple chapters. This one has been on and off me trying to continue it, so it doesn't feel like my best chapter, but the one I am planning on releasing as soon as Thursday is easily my favorite so far. Man, I feel bad for leaving this for so long, but at the same time I have so many ideas and directions that this will be going. The original idea is the same, but the way its going to get there... Can't wait.**

 **Anyways, here I am. I'm back. I am going to see this through and get it done.**

* * *

Naruto watched over the fire as his team slept. The travelling had been quiet and uneventful, with occasional conversation with each other. The pace had been slow, much to Naruto's annoyance and Shikamaru's pleasure, due to the urgency level of the mission being low. While it was a high ranking mission, it wasn't as if the Wave would be gone if they took too long. The pirates hadn't been murderers, but just plunderers.

The Blonde Sage looked over the mission file again. They were to establish a division of the Hidden Leaf Police Force in the wave, and offer protection. Kakashi, the Hokage, eventually wants the Wave to be a part of the Leaf in the sense of relations. Establishing protection and law would be a great first step in persuading the populace, if they already weren't persuaded.

Reading further, Naruto spotted the scouting reports on the Pirate presence in the area. They hadn't gotten any detailed information, no appearances or leaders. No patterns in the activity. Only that they had been raiding villages at night and stealing supplies, such as food and tools. Naruto narrowed his eyes and flipped to the next page in the report. The Pirates don't have any insignias, always cover their faces, don't have any allegiances that are known of.

"Scouting report? More like a brief observation." Naruto groaned and put the report back into his bag, setting it next to his scroll against the log he was sitting on. He looked around the forest surrounding them and stoked the fire, listening to the small peaceful sounds coming from the trees. Frogs, crickets, and the occasional bird relaxed Naruto. The world was so peaceful outside of the ninja villages, yet so dangerous.

"My turn to take watch, Naruto." The mentioned Sage turned to see Yugao emerging from her tent, walking towards the fire. She looked wide awake and ready to work, not a sleepy look in her eye.

"You sure? I'm not really tired."

"Sleep. That's an order." Naruto groaned and rolled his eyes. She was so stuck up ever since they left Konoha. Annoying, strict, inconsiderate, emotionless.

"When we get back home, I'm getting Yamato to take that stick out of your ass." Naruto quipped, jumping onto a tree branch and getting comfortable above the camp.

"Do I need to record this on your report?" Yugao retorted.

Silence.

He was already asleep.

* * *

As Naruto took one step onto the bridge named after himself, he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia, pride, and responsibility. This land had been through a lot already, and he felt as though he shouldn't have forgotten about it and let them suffer from the hands of simple pirates. He wasn't an idiot, though. He knew that he couldn't be held at fault, he knew that he couldn't deal with everything himself. Still, he felt responsible for this land that counted on him so much.

He perked up as he heard bells behind him, and moved to the side to see a wagon pulled by two donkeys make its way across the bridge beside him. The man gave a curt nod before focusing forward, the wagon filled with sacks of food and supplies. Yugao stepped up an stood beside him, looking out over the bridge, the village in the distance, and the ocean.

"Good to see supplies are still flowing in," Yugao pointed out, "with villages getting looted, one would think that they wouldn't be supplied anymore."

Naruto only nodded in response as he heard the rest of the group walk up behind him, consisting of Sakura, Shikamaru, and Hinata. Hinata had been quiet almost the entire journey, and Naruto couldn't blame her, really. He hadn't talked to her at all since she fought for him, and he felt he couldn't.

"Alright, Yugao, you work on getting the volunteers that Kakashi had assembled up to speed. Sakura, you and Hinata should search around the village for anything fishy, put your eyes to good use, Hinata." Sakura and Hinata nodded quickly while Yugao frowned. "Shikamaru, I just need you focusing on making a well thought out plan, find strategic points that would work for a headquarters, an outpost, anything that can provide long term security."

"Well, shit." Shikamaru couldn't think of anything more tiring and time consuming.

"Now hold on, this is more my operation than yours, Naruto." Yugao stepped forward and stared Naruto dead in the eyes. "I will forever be grateful that you saved our village, boy. I will acknowledge your talents and skills, but you are still just that. A boy. This is my mission." Naruto gave her a funny look and tilted his head to the side.

"Alright," he said, simply shrugging his shoulders. Yugao almost flinched at such a simple response.

"What." It sounded like more of a command than a question.

"You're right, what's your plan?" The absolute nerve.

Yugao frowned, looking to the three other squad members around them, waiting for her orders. "Your plan… Suffices." She growled out. Naruto gave a short nod and turned back toward the bridge, his eyes narrowing.

"N-Naruto, what is it you are planning, exactly?" Hinata asked timidly, but more confident than usual. Naruto looked back to Hinata, giving a more serious than often look. He gave the island one last skeptical look. He took in the people moving, far in the distance. He watched as the wagon reached the halfway point of the bridge, the bells fading into the distance. Then, he took his headband off his bicep, and stuffed it into his coat pockets.

"I have a hunch. I'm going to see if I'm right," he said as the group began to walk across the Great Naruto Bridge.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata worked their way to the town center of the first village, not many people in the streets, but enough for people to know the village wasn't deserted. This village was closest to the bridge, so theoretically it should be the most well supplied, and the most populated village. It was rather early, so perhaps most were out working, fishing, or preparing for their day.

"So, Hinata." Sakura called out. Hinata gave a small 'eep' of surprise at the random callout by Sakura. "When you jumped out in front of Pein and Naruto, what exactly were you hoping to accomplish there?" Hinata frowned and focused more on the road, tapping her fingers together nervously. In truth, it was the most scared she ever felt in her most brave moment. She didn't know what to do, only that she wanted to save someone she cared for. Her precious person.

"I-if I couldn't stop Pein, then I guess the least I could do was to be sure Naruto didn't fall alone. That he knew someone would stand by his side u-until death. If I could do only that, then that was enough for me, Sakura." The mentioned pink-haired girl frowned. It was sweet, it really was, but to think Hinata had been the only one to do so? Most were injured, many were healing or taking care of others. Many were dead.

"And, you'd do that for him? Why?" Sakura insisted.

"We're here." Hinata stalled, pointing out that they were in the middle of the village. Sakura didn't like the conversation being stopped, but work came first.

"Do it."

Hinata nodded her head as her eyes focused. She began to scan around the village, any chakra signatures, any objects out of place, any suspicious people. Sakura just leaned against a pole and watched the Hyuga work, looking out for anyone that seemed too focused on her teammate.

Hinata scanned the closest buildings more thoroughly, then the next layer of houses, then further to the outskirts. She picked up Shikamaru's chakra signature just outside the village, but other than that it was all clear. She shifted her eyes to the docks, still nothing. The water? Not a fish out of place.

"Ew," Sakura took Hinata out of focus, "I think I stepped in donkey feces… Gross!" she cried out.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru scanned the outskirts of the village. He had just seen a small peninsula on the Southwest end of the island, which would be fantastic for a watchtower. Not only to look over the ocean, but also to watch over the bridge that leads West, to the Land of Fire. Not to mention, it being a peninsula would increase the sightline. It would be able to see West, South, and East over the ocean. "Not bad," he mumbled to himself.

He grabbed some wire and four kunai, throwing them into the ground at the end of the peninsula as he walked over to it. Slowly, he took the wire and wrapped it a few layers around the four kunai that were placed as a marker. "There, that should give them a good idea of where I want it."

He looked back to the bridge, then over to the village. This was the perfect spot. "Obviously, an outpost should be put on both ends of the bridge," Shikamaru thought out loud, "maybe even get rid of some of the unnecessary docks and bunch them together into a harbor of sorts, would be easier to patrol." He pulled out a cigarette and tapped it against his chin as he brought his lighter out next, thinking in the process.

"Maybe," he began as he put the cigarette into his mouth and began to light it. "Maybe even set a point there could be a docks dedicated to patrols? This is a land surrounded by water…" There needed to be patrols on the water, that was no question. This wasn't the Leaf. "Signal fires at the top of the towers? One tower per island." Shikamaru gave himself a literal pat on the shoulder. He just made his job a lot easier.

He looked to the forest, to the east, and saw Naruto examining the village from a tree. "What is he looking for?" He watched as the blonde stood up from the branch and disappeared deeper into the forest. "Trouble, most likely."

* * *

Naruto watched over the village from the tallest tree he could find. He was able to see as far as Yugao talking to some of the village residents, to Hinata and Sakura scanning the area with the Hyuga's Byakugan. From their body language he could tell that they hadn't found anything important or dangerous, but that was to be somewhat expected due to it being the most civilized area.

Whoever these pirates were, they couldn't be stupid enough to raid the village closest to the bridge. No, they had seen in the reports that the pirates for the most part avoided confrontation, which was odd. Naruto sat on the branch for a moment a pulled the report back out and glanced over it.

"No emblems, insignias, banners, or any other means of identification," Naruto pondered. He gave a short sigh as he read deeper into the report, looking over every detail as thoroughly as he could bring himself to. "Villager saw the pirates escape on a small boat, claims to have seen a larger ship on the horizon to the East… Claims? Some pirates also seen running to the West." Naruto groaned as he stuffed the report away. It seemed likely to Naruto that the report was hastily thrown together, and the information was given by an 'eye-witness' if you could call him that.

One important piece of information was there, though. If the ship was to the East, then all the villages that had most likely been raided so far were on the far side of the Land of Waves. Naruto looked back down to the village to see Shikamaru looking towards him, a new site behind him that he had marked. "Guess the team has this bit under control," Naruto murmured to himself as he jumped off the branch and headed East.

As Naruto pushed off a particular branch, he looked to his left and saw a familiar clearing. He slowed to an immediate stop and looked over the sight, a lake in the middle of the clearing. ' _No way.'_ Naruto jumped down from the tree and as his feet hit the ground he heard a metal clank. He looked down at his own foot and used it to sift around the dirt, uncovering a dark metal with jagged shapes around the edge.

Naruto kneeled down and moved the rest of the dirt away with a swipe of his hand, the metal now completely visible. He gave a short laugh to himself, but his face turned serious immediately after. It was a shuriken. One of their shuriken, from all those years ago. He picked up the small weapon, dirt caked the outside of it and it was rusted over. He looked over his shoulder behind him and saw a tree with a notch in the side of it, from Zabuza's sword.

"You're kidding…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he looked back to the lake. He really couldn't believe it. It felt like 'home' in a sense. Like he belonged here. He stood straight and puffed out his chest, remembering it was his plan that freed Kakashi and allowed them to ultimately win the fight in the end. "Yeah, I'm a badass," he said to himself as he began to walk East with a triumphant march in his step.

* * *

Hinata sighed deeply at the pointless continuation of her search. She heard Sakura eating something from behind her as she gave one last look around the perimeter, as far as she could see. ' _Naruto just walked out of my Byakugan's range'_ she thought curiously. She took a sigh of relief as she let her eyes relax, stepped back and turned to Sakura.

"Nothing here," the Hyuga stated. Sakura nodded and pulled out a small map of the islands. "I did see Naruto, he was pretty far. He just reached outside the range of my Byakugan."

Sakura shrugged, "He's on his own now, then." Hinata gave a small 'hmph' in response as they both began to walk. She didn't necessarily like the idea of him being that far, but she knew he could take care of himself. "The map shows a village both East and Northeast of here," Sakura mentioned.

Hinata perked up a bit at that. "East is where Naruto was going!" She responded. Sakura tapped her chin a moment, looking at the other villages on the map. If Naruto was going East, he could potentially run into two different villages, while Northeast there would only be one.

"Well, if Naruto is going East, I guess it makes more sense for us to cover more ground and check Northeast. Shikamaru will probably follow the coastline he was checking, which should take him closer to where Naruto is." Sakura planned out. She tapped the village to the Northeast and looked up to Hinata. "We'll head there then?" Hinata nodded in response.

The two began to walk to the village outskirts in silence. They would pick up the pace once they reached the outskirts, but for now it would be best to just give everything a quick glance as they headed out. As they rounded a corner, they saw a marketplace of sorts. A road filled with different merchants with their assortments of foods, pelts, tools, and other such things. The village was now starting to liven up, as Sakura noticed it was getting closer to noon.

A man they passed was complaining to the food merchant about the prices of his fruits, while another was trying to haggle with the toolsmith about the price of his nails and screws. As they kept walking, they heard all sorts of merchants and buyers mentioning the different raids and how it was driving up prices. Sakura listened intently to the man selling pelts telling a woman that it was just business, and watched as the woman angrily stalked off.

It made more sense to Sakura that these merchants were just using the raids as an excuse to take advantage of people, and make more money off of the unfortunate situations. As they reached the edge of the village, Hinata turned back and gave the village one last look before they picked up the pace and headed to their next objective.

* * *

Naruto sat perched on top of the central roof of the easternmost village in the Land of Waves, his eyes set to the ocean in front of him, while he tapped the clay tiles of the roof with his knuckles in a slow rhythm. He narrowed his eyes towards the large cliff down to the sea that would make it difficult for any pirate to quickly escape. Not to mention, it didn't make much sense that pirates would just take supplies and food. Not a single death in any of the raids.

As the blonde ninja turned his gaze West, he saw only forest and fields, no water such as rivers or anything that connected to the ocean for quite a ways. For pirates to flee West was odd, but it could be that they just looped around. He scratched the back of his head in thought as he again looked both directions. Ocean to the East, forest to the West. He could see all he needed to see when it came to the ocean, and there was nothing out there of interest to him.

With that in mind, Naruto slid down the sloped roof and jumped before sliding off of it, launching him into the trees with momentum. As he stuck to the first branch in the forest, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, taking in the feel of the energy around him. From a small cricket, to the people near and far in the entire Land of Waves, he felt everything. He opened his eyes to reveal the golden coloring around his horizontal pupils.

Naruto put his hand on the trunk of the tree as he focused intently, feeling as though he himself was running through the forest at such fast speeds. Yet, it was only feeling. He came upon deer, rabbits, villagers, hunters, Hinata, Sakura, all different forms and sorts of life. Only one really caught his attention. His eyes opened wide, before he furrowed his eyebrows, a dangerous look etched onto his face.

With no hesitation, he bit his thumb and went through an array of hand seals before plummeting his hand into the bark he stood on. A poof of smoke appeared around him as a small toad colored a pale purple gave a short salute. "What do you need from me?"

Naruto gave the toad a short look before looking into the trees, the look on his face showing the toad that they were about to mean business. "Gamaden," Naruto peered at the toad out of the corner of his eye, "I need your tracking skills." With that, Naruto took off deeper into the forest with the pale toad in tow.

"What am I tracking, exactly?" Gamaden called out to the young sage. Naruto came to an abrupt stop and narrowed his eyes at the forest floor. Gamaden gave a short "hmm" in response to what he saw. A man, with a sharp rock jutting out of the ground piercing through his chest.

"Whoever it was that did that."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hopefully I got this out quick enough for y'all! This chapter isn't as long as I was planning, but a lot happens. Hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Y'all get it. Naruto isn't owned by me.**_

* * *

Naruto stood over a metal hatch, no markers or indications on why it was there, but it was there. Pine needles and leaves crunched under his feet as he circled the entryway, his head swimming around all the different scenarios and possibilities that can unfold just by opening it.

Gamaden hopped over to the opposite side of the hatch that Naruto stood by, his toad eyes peering around it curiously. "Could be a trapdoor as much as it could be an entrance," Naruto stated. His throat suddenly felt cold and dry as he looked up to the toad, his usual bravery swallowed up.

Naruto was no coward, on top of that he was always one to just jump in and wing it. This time, this was different. Gamaden tracking whoever killed that man before to this hatch scratched 'pirates' off the list of people that were causing problems. And then there was what Gamaden had mentioned before…

" _This is Earth Style Jutsu, Naruto,"_ the toad had said. _"Earth Style: Stone Spikes."_

He growled as he stared at the hatch in thought, the leaves on the trees surrounding them beginning to rustle in the wind. The sun was hitting the back of Naruto's neck, making his skin feel warm while inside he felt so cold. Naruto guessed to himself that this would be one of those times where he wings it.

His feet hit the stone cold ground in silence as darkness surrounded him, the only light coming from the hatch above. The shadow of Gamaden showed on the floor at his feet, the light disappearing slowly as the toad closed the hatch behind the young Sage. He peered around where he stood, hearing nothing, sensing nothing.

Naruto checked again to be sure that his chakra was masked. He couldn't go into Sage Mode as long as he wanted to be sneaky, in the event that the enemy had a sensor. His skin felt cold, and his blue eyes roamed around the room cautiously, his breath now showing as if it were below freezing in front of his nose.

 _Thud._ The hatch closed and the last of the light vanished from existence, leaving him alone and cold. He clenched his jaw tight as he hugged the wall and began to follow it down what felt like a hallway.

Naruto reached a corner and felt a small, continuous vibration at the bottom of his feet as he turned it and continued to walk. As he moved further down the hall he began to hear a low and crackling hum that seemed to be causing the vibrations.

' _A generator, and it's running.'_ Naruto thought to himself. He continued down the dark hall, his hand gliding along the wall on his right. He felt the vibrations grow stronger and the crackling hum was more audible the further he walked.

 _Ping._

Naruto held his forehead and his nose as he bit his lip, forcibly keeping himself from stomping his feet in pain. "Damn it," he whispered so quiet that he could barely hear it himself, but the anger was apparent.

He reached his hand in front of his face to feel a random pipe that hung down in the middle of the hall, jutting out from the wall. Naruto took a deep breath, keeping himself from growling as he let go of his face and continued walking more cautiously.

Just his luck, to be hit in the head by a rogue pipe of all things. It even being there didn't make much sense to him.

As Naruto turned the next corner, he saw light in front of him, and was able to faintly hear voices as shadows passed by. He was still at a distance, and it was extremely dark in his hall, so he felt safe enough here.

"Leaf Ninja… main town… bridge… two squads." Naruto was able to make out at his distance. Two squads? They had only sent one, although it was a five man squad. Could they be suspecting another team because of the odd number? Either that… or…

The voices faded. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he began to slowly inch forward, listening closely for any steps, voices, anything to indicate trouble for himself. He again hugged the wall as he approached the next corner, his eyes scanning down the hall both left and right. Two directions.

He bit his tongue a moment and frowned. He could tell looking both ways that the hallways turned to the same direction at the end. The one on his right side turning left, and the one on his left side turning right.

A possible bunker in a square pattern then. That's all he had to go on at this point. As he carefully crouched down and rounded the corner heading to his right, he took note that there were closed doors that littered the hallway. In between each door was a support pillar against the wall. He took a hesitant step forward and kept his ears open for any trouble.

 _Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Naruto nearly jumped and quickly took a kunai out of his pouch, pulling it up in a defensive movement in front of his face. He looked up to see the light above him flickering, making small buzzing noises and slowly dimming more and more in between.

Naruto nearly kicked himself at being so startled by it, but quickly hugged his back against the wall beside a support as he heard a door open.

The light continued to flicker, Naruto's blue eyes going from dim and dull, to bright and wary. Dim, to bright. He nearly kicked himself as he realized it was the door right next to him, the light continuing to flicker. Dim, to bright. "Damn light," the man grumbled as he took a step out of his room.

 _Shit._

Naruto panicked just for a moment as he realized the step was aimed in his direction. The lights kept the edge of the hallway dark. If he hugged the support, there was a small chance he wouldn't be seen.

 _Please don't see._

Dim, to bright. Dull, to aware.

Another step aimed for his direction, a pair. There were two of them. Naruto held his breath and tightened his lips, his reverse grip around his kunai tightening.

 _Dim._

The steps grew closer, the two sharing small words with each other about the light as they took a couple more steps.

 _Bright._

Naruto ground his teeth, his jaw clenched as the steps grew closer. They just needed to keep walking. Face forward.

 _Dim._

The light. If they focused on the flickering light, he would be fine.

 _Bright._

If it was dim the very second he was in their peripherals, they wouldn't be able to see him in the shadow of the support. It just needed to be dark at that very instant. He just needed a little luck.

 _Dim._

He saw a foot come to light from around the support, moving in slow motion. They could just walk right by. Nothing had to happen. Everyone could go about their lives.

 _Bright._

He saw the face of the man, his eyes turning left, staring into Naruto's bright blue eyes, reflecting the light on the ceiling.

And then the blue eyes went dim.

One hand covered the first man's mouth, the other one showing panic in his eyes before a quick slash had blood pour out of his throat all over the shadowed wall.

 _Crack._

The first man went limp as Naruto tackled both limp bodies into the room they had emerged from. Both corpses and the Sage fell to the ground as he kicked the door closed, listening to it shut loudly. Yet, it wouldn't matter. Most would assume it was just someone returning to their room.

The blonde grunted as he stood up, staring at the door, breathing heavy. The bloodiest, darkest kills he could remember at that moment.

 _Squeak._

It sounded like a spring. Naruto turned quickly with wide eyes to see a room, full of bunk beds and lockers. Full of people. Men and women. With Hidden Stone headbands. All stared at him, he stared back. He scanned the room, noticing a red button in the far left hand corner. Immediately, an orange haired kunoichi looked the same button.

 _Don't._

She ran.

Naruto cursed as threw his kunai into the side of the woman's skull, and put his fist through the jaw of the closest ninja to him. "Hit the alarm!" A ninja with red hair shouted, throwing himself into Naruto. Another ninja took off, practically diving to the red button, as the third and last remaining ninja aside from them also threw himself at Naruto.

Naruto put his hands into a crossed hand seal, two shadow clones popping into existence. The first clone grabbed the second by the arm, slinging him across the room. The clone landed on his knees with his kunai above his head, sliding across the floor under the diving ninja, kunai tearing through the ninja's abdomen.

Naruto heard him cry out in immense pain as he leaned back under a punch, throwing his foot into the jaw of his attacker before flipping backwards onto his feet. One ninja remained. Blue hair, purple eyes. Eyes that showed only fear, and hope. Hope that Naruto would show mercy to him.

And he saw the blue eyes turn bright, before seeing only darkness.

Naruto threw a kick into the side of the purple-eyed ninja's skull, rendering his opponent unconscious. He took a couple deep breaths as he looked at all corners of the room. He was safe, for now.

Safe wasn't the best word. In fact, it was the complete opposite in reality. These were ninjas from the Hidden Stone. He knelt down and yanked one of the headbands off of his deceased opponents, squeezing it. His knuckles turned white and his eyes briefly flashed red, before he took a deep breath and looked back toward the door.

Walking in, he saw so many of these doors. If that was the case, there had to be a small army in this bunker. Naruto growled. His team was in danger, the Land of Waves was in danger. This was a problem larger than any of them had thought, and if they discovered that he was here… The son of the Fourth Hokage. He had to get out.

The blonde took one last deep breath before he stepped to door, putting his ear against it and listening to the outside hall. He could hear steps, growing closer to the door. Naruto frowned, and hoped he was assuming correctly that they were just passing by. As he heard the steps grow closer, he was able to hear their voices.

"Let me just grab my mask before we head out on patrol," one said, his voice drowned out by the thick walls and door in between them and Naruto. The voice was young, Naruto observed. Young and eager to prove himself. Familiar.

"Hurry it up then," another replied. His voice was deeper, more monotoned. A veteran for sure. Naruto backed from the door slightly and had another kunai at hand, waiting for it to be opened. He tensed as he heard a doorknob turn, but instantly relaxed as he realized quickly that it wasn't to his room.

When the door opened, Naruto could hear several voices from another room sound out through the hallway. Sounded like they were getting a bit drunk, celebrating? Naruto clicked his tongue softly as he heard the door close, and the two ninja's footsteps faded. Sounded like… Left? Naruto slightly opened the door, listening intently as he slowly opened it just enough to squeeze out. Closing it softly behind him, he shifted behind a support, back into the shadows as he peered down the hall.

As he reached the end of the hall, he saw that it opened up into a square room. Weapons, jackets, and tools of all sorts littered the racks, shelves, and walls of the room. Naruto counted a dozen or so ninja that were scattered throughout. A small group was examining a few of the weapons, while another group was just talking off in the corner. He looked up, seeing different pipes stretching across the ceiling. He could hide up there until some left.

* * *

Hinata and Sakura reached the outskirts of the next village, this one more secluded in a deep forest, with small huts surrounding a river, and wooden catwalks being the main form of passage across to several different huts. The river was calm, only gently flowing, and Sakura noticed a dam downstream, which explained the slower moving current.

The two approached the center of the village, Hinata already activating her Byakugan and searching the area thoroughly. Sakura hand on her hip, gave the Hyuga one look before scanning the villagers walking around for any threat that would put Hinata in danger. Though, the question was still on her mind.

"You love him a lot, don't you?" Sakura asked. The veins around Hinata's eyes faded briefly, before she set her eyes back to focus. She did not answer, but her cheeks were red and she slouched a bit. Sakura sighed. "Hinata, you can be in love with him. I'm not going to hurt you for it," she tried to reason.

Hinata sighed, deactivating her Byakugan and turning to her pink haired teammate. "I guess, I guess I do love him," Hinata hesitated for a moment. "It's just, you can't tell him that. Ever. You can't tell him that you know, because…" Hinata's cheeks grew even more red, but her eyes looked heavy. Sakura frowned.

"Hinata…" Sakura scolded, as if she were calling out a small child for hiding a secret from her parents.

"Because he is so fond of you, Sakura," the Hyuga whispered softly. Sakura rose an eyebrow at that. "He is so close to you, strives so hard for your attention and acknowledgement. I've watched him for so long, I know how his mind works."

"And?" Sakura probed.

"And, he would be… he would be afraid that you would push him away, so that he could spend more time with me. He would be afraid that you would think that your team was moving on. At least… At least that is what I think." Sakura just stared at her, making Hinata shift uncomfortably. She attempted to regain focus of her Byakugan, while the emerald eyes just seemed to tear through her mind and search for more answers.

"You think he loves me." The statement was so confident, so firm and bold. It was true. That is exactly what Hinata believed. Except…

"No. I know he does," Hinata corrected. That caught Sakura's attention more, the pinkette crossing her arms and staring intently.

Team 7 was closer than ever recently, along with Shikamaru. Naruto wouldn't keep something like that so wrapped up for so long. It was just a crush. If it was more, one of them would have found out by now. Not to mention, that crush had seemed to die out years ago. Ever since he returned home. He still teased, but it was different.

Naruto wasn't one to hide his feelings well. Of course, he had gotten better at it. He matured so much in such little time it seemed. He was different. Still goofy, but even that goofy aura about him felt… Like it was there for a reason. It was always timed so well.

"He doesn't." Was Sakura's firm reply.

"Well, he doesn't love me either," Hinata spoke softly. Sakura could only think back to what Naruto had told her that day. The day he had met Kyza and Po, Naruto had said that he didn't have time for kids. In a way, he had hinted that he didn't have time for love. It saddened her to think that he couldn't have one of his biggest dreams. Family.

"Just focus on the mission," Sakura said, hiding as much emotion as she could. _'Why make it so tough on yourself, Naruto?'_

"Y-yeah. Yeah, of course."

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was following the coastline East, having marked a couple points that would make for a good dock, lighthouse, and watchtower. With these points in place, Shikamaru felt that the Wave would be a lot more secure from minor threats, such as pirates or bandits.

That wasn't currently what Shikamaru was focused on, though. He was more concerned with why two random villagers were walking the same shoreline. Two grown men, in a pair, in the middle of the day. No village nearby, no boat, no fishing equipment, no bows. Shikamaru could only frown as he watched them take a look off the coast, before walking a hundred yards or so and repeating the process.

' _These aren't villagers from around here.'_ Shikamaru knew. He had been trailing them for a few minutes now. Could they be a romantic couple, keeping away from prying and judgemental eyes? No. They didn't so much as even look at each other. It looked as though they were forced to walk beside each other. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sat down against a tree, continuing to watch them from a distance.

"This is such a drag. Either these two are on a pilgrimage together, or they are scoping out the coast to find a safe place to anchor for their next hit," Shikamaru said to himself. He tapped his finger against his temple, watching the two men uninterestedly as they were now conversing.

"They don't even look friendly with each other at all," he observed. The younger one nodded quickly to the older man, his face looking serious, but eager. Shikamaru shifted in his spot, leaning forward with his elbow on his knee as he squinted, focusing on the two. Suddenly, they both jumped into the forest with a blur, in one leap.

"What." Shikamaru deadpanned as he watched them disappear. "Ninja? Here?" Shikamaru put his back to the tree, his senses sharpening as he scanned the shrubbery around him. _'You've got to be joking. This is not what I was envisioning. So much for pirates.'_ But who were they? Rogue ninja? At the moment, that would be a relief, but after the Kage Summit… Shikamaru sighed deeply. This could be bad.

"Looking for something?" A voice said from above the lazy ninja. Shikamaru only sighed again, his shoulders slumping. _'Fantastic.'_ Shikamaru was not one to pick a fight, but if it came to him… The young ninja froze, his chakra in his feet clinging to the tree weakening greatly. The older one gave the young ninja a funny look as the two of them found they couldn't move.

"Not anything in particular," Shikamaru said before vanishing. "Then again, I think I found out what I was suspicious of." The two ninja craned their necks slightly to see Shikamaru on a branch above them, his hands forming their Shadow Possession seal.

"H-how did he?" The older ninja started to say. Shikamaru only shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"Nuh uh. I ask the questions from here on out." Shikamaru shifted his fingers slightly, the shadow beginning to creep up to the throats of the two. The younger one began to panic, his body shaking excessively, while the older one just grit his teeth and stared at the Nara with an intent to kill.

"You're just barking out words, Nara." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Common enemy tactic, use the enemy's last name to try and dish out fear and hesitation. No doubt the shadow possession gave away part of his identity, but it didn't really matter.

"Y-yeah! We aren't saying anyth-" the younger ninja began before being interrupted.

 _Crack._

The words died in the young ninja's mouth as he saw his teammate fall limp to the ground. His brown eyes widened, craning back forward to look at Shikamaru. The Nara just looked at the young man expectantly, waiting for his signal.

"So, we in a talking mood?"

* * *

Naruto turned to the next hallway, continuing the square pattern that he predicted the bunker was shaped. The layout was predictable, which helped Naruto avoid anymore encounters as he searched for anything of value. The activity throughout the base had died down, and most seemed to be out on patrol or in their rooms. Naruto had seen a couple squads head back towards the hatch he had entered in, which only meant less resistance for him inside.

So far, he knew two things for certain. The first being that there are no pirates in the Land of Waves, just Hidden Stone ninjas. Second, being that this looked like it was only the start. The mission had gone from a C-Rank, borderline B-Rank, and catapulted itself up to an S-Rank. The blonde jumped up to the ceiling, hiding himself behind a support while another duo walked by, noting to himself that trouble absolutely followed him.

Naruto looked to the end of the hall as he dropped down, noting that it again turned left. That would take him back to the hatch, but as he looked down the hall, he noticed that there was another hallway that was directly at the halfway point of his. It didn't take that much thinking for Naruto to understand that this was likely the main room of the bunker. So, doing what Naruto does, he quickly darted across the hall, getting into the shadows as he crept toward this 'main room'.

* * *

"I swear! I don't know that much! I am just a Chunin!" The young ninja in front of Shikamaru cried out, the shadow creeping closer and closer to his throat. The Nara just shook his head, a frown evident on his face, his eyes just daring the young man to test his patience.

"Not good enough."

The Chunin's eyes widened at the simplicity of the statement. Shikamaru wasn't even going to push for exact information. He wanted everything. "Okay! Okay! There is…" The Chunin paused, his eyes darting around the landscape, looking for anything to help him. Those eyes seemed to dull a bit as he grit his teeth. Fear sparked into them as he tried to force himself free from the shadow possession, to no avail. "We're here on a mission!" The Chunin said, a little hope gleaming through his eyes.

Shikamaru sighed, his patience close to being spent. "Alright, I've heard enough. Say hi to your friend for me." All hope disappeared from the man's eyes.

"NO! A Chunin from the Stone! The Stone!" The ninja all but pleaded, screaming his confession to the Nara. Shikamaru eyes widened, a headband immediately dropping from the man's jacket and onto the forest floor. "We came to raid the villages! For food! Supplies! That's it!"

* * *

Naruto entered a doorway, scanning the room for any threats, and surprised to see not a single one. The activity in the bunker had really died down over the last hour or so. The Young Sage looked to the middle of the room, a map set down on a large table, and a whiteboard hanging on the wall in the back of the room.

He narrowed his eyes and approached the map, still attentive to the hall behind him, waiting for ninja to show up at any second. The bunker was quiet. No voices, no steps, no equipment being shifted around. Nothing. Just generators in the distance, and the occasional bit of water dripping from a pipe. Nothing else. In a way, it reminded Naruto of whenever he was in his head, with Kyuubi. It felt… Wrong.

As he stood in front of the map, he took note of the arrows, circles, paths, numbers, all sorts of things. It was all so organized. Naruto leaned over and began taking out the kunai that held the map's corners down to the table. He neatly rolled it up while noting that it was way too large to hide on his person, being almost as wide and tall as he was. He took a kunai and tore off one of the sleeves to his coat, using the cloth to tie around the scroll to keep it from opening. He then connected it to the strap that his summoning scroll was connected to, and began to turn and walk out.

As he turned, the whiteboard caught the corner of his eye.

* * *

Shikamaru had wrapped the shadow's hand around the Chunin's throat, the young man panicking and beginning to struggle for air regardless of the shadow actually choking him or not. "What's your move!?" Shikamaru shouted out, the shadow giving a light squeeze.

"Agh!" The Chunin growled out in pain, breathing heavily. "We knew you showed up! We saw you enter the village! Our leader is named Kurotsuchi! She is setting up an ambush for the other two in your squad!" Shikamaru was not familiar with the name, but at the moment he was more worried about his teammates. He shook his head, the leader would be important. He needed to know.

"Why should I care about his name? Seems like useless information to me. Useless and vague enough to cost the man that shared it his life!" The Chunin's eyes widened as he shook his head rapidly.

"No! No! She's an important woman! One of the most respected Jonin in the Hidden Stone! Some even believe her to be the next Kage!" Shikamaru growled. That was all he needed to hear on that matter. They were outmanned, and potentially outclassed.

"And? What of the ambush!?"

* * *

The Young Sage took a look at the whiteboard, a notes and objective list showing, next to a small drawn map of the northern section of the Land of Waves.

 _Reconnaissance on the team identified as Yugao Uzuki, Hinata Hyuga, three other members not known._

Naruto frowned as he read over Hinata's name. Could they be after the Byakugan?

 _Hyuga and her teammate heading North._

He grit his teeth. Sakura and Hinata. He didn't like where this was going.

* * *

"They're sending squads! Us two were to patrol the base and keep an eye out for the other three members! You, Yugao Uzuki, and another unidentified ninja!"

Naruto? Shikamaru growled, so Hinata and Sakura were in trouble. "How many squads?"

"Don't kill me when I tell you, please!" Desperation was evident in his voice. Fear that he would lose his life if he truthfully answered. That alone was enough to frighten Shikamaru.

"How many!?" Now it was his turn to be desperate.

* * *

 _Fifteen squads._

Naruto choked up, his jaw and fists clenching, before he dashed out of the room.

* * *

 _ **Okay! That will do it for this chapter!**_

 _ **I know it is a lot of switching around of perspectives at the end, but the point of it was to show that Naruto and Shikamaru found out at the same time that it was about to get messy.**_

 _ **I was very excited to write the scene of Naruto infiltrating the bunker. I wanted to show a side of him that we have never really gotten to see. One which shows him outnumbered, behind enemy lines. A situation that forces him to take things slow and serious, which clashes a bit with his personality. That is going to be expanded upon next chapter.**_

 _ **As for Sakura and Hinata, I am excited to write their part next chapter as well, because both are opposites in a lot of ways, including their feelings towards Naruto. You could say that this story is bringing Naruto and Sakura closer together, but the way she handles that closeness is still so different to how Hinata acts around Naruto.**_

 _ **Overall though, next chapter is going to be... Well. I can't wait. This chapter took another step at setting the tone of the story. Next chapter will expand on that. Trust me, I have had two years to bring it all together in my head. I'm excited.**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Yeah. We're just going to jump right into this one.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Hinata and Sakura walked at a casual pace, both avoiding the other's gaze as much as possible on the walk to the next village over. Sakura had intended for the conversation to open up an understanding between the two. To find something that could initiate easier communication. In the end, it just made things awkward.

Sakura felt vulnerable, was the truth. _'Well, he doesn't love me either.'_ Hinata had said. Those words were stuck on her brain. It wouldn't bother her much if Hinata had said those words alone, but for them to follow up what she had said before.

' _You think he loves me.'_

' _No, I know he does.'_

Sakura felt so vulnerable. Burdened, guilty, and disgusted. She didn't love him. _'I don't love him.'_ She bit her lip and looked to her moving feet. It was the truth, but it felt like a lie. The girl next to her, the one she was in the process of avoiding, was the one who really loved Naruto. The one who would sacrifice her life for him in a heartbeat, but wouldn't she do the same? Naruto was her teammate, of course she would die for him, but maybe not for the same reasons.

' _What would I do for Naruto?'_ She cried out for his help when all seemed lost, and destiny smiled upon Sakura when the smoke appeared in the distance. Did he answer her cries for him? Or was it just by chance? Either way, he had showed up when he was needed, just like he always did. The hero always shows up at the last minute. There was no doubt in Sakura's mind that Naruto would do anything for her, including sacrifice his life. Was that really it? Was that the most precious thing he could sacrifice for her? Was it the most precious thing she could sacrifice for him?

Sakura took a deep breath and looked to her teammate, the Hyuga looking down at her feet the same way she just was. Sakura could only guess that Hinata was having different thoughts of the same person, or maybe similar thoughts. She didn't know. Then again, what did it matter?

' _Are you going to have kids?'_ Sakura had asked.

' _I don't know. I don't think I am able to have the luxury anymore. Sage and all, ya know?'_

And then, the thing he had said at lunch with Ino as well.

' _Besides! I still was like… one hundred percent in love with you at the time so I didn't do anything! Promise!'_

Sakura took a few deep breaths, she felt as if she were hyperventilating. Hinata looked at her curiously out of the corner of her eye, her hands moving to Sakura's shoulder. "A-are you okay, Sakura?" Hinata's caring voice snapped her out of it. As Sakura raised her eyes to stare into Hinata's, all the breath in her lungs sucked in, and she suddenly felt light headed.

Naruto would never pick her over Hinata. Not if he really knew how Hinata felt. Did he know? He had to. Sakura at that moment felt like she had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life, and it made her feel small. It made her feel like a girl at the academy again. Competing for Sasuke.

"I… I think I am okay. Just, a little tired is all," Sakura couldn't even convince herself of that one. How idiotic did she believe Hinata was? Right on cue, the face Hinata wore only confirmed that she believed what Sakura said was a lie.

" _I don't love him, he doesn't love me."_ Sakura thought to herself, her eyes spotting something reflecting light from behind Hinata. _"I can't love him. Not after the burden I have put on his shoulders."_ A kunai.

Sakura grabbed Hinata's shoulder and shifted her slightly to the left, grabbing her own kunai out of her pouch with her free hand. She stepped forward to Hinata's old spot and slapped the kunai out of the air with her own, causing the one of unknown origin to ricochet into a tree. Hinata instantly put her eyes into focus, and those eyes widened.

"Run!" Sakura heard in her left ear, more desperate and loud than she had ever heard Hinata. She felt her arm get pulled in the Hyuga's direction as the two began to run back along their old path to the village they had just searched. Just as Sakura was about to ask, Hinata's feet pivoted around gracefully, putting herself in between Sakura and an incoming attacker. Hinata used the man's momentum to grip his arm and throw him over her shoulder, before quickly putting several jabs into the man's torso, causing him to fall over with blood running out of his mouth.

"Move, Sakura! Please!" Hinata shouted as she pushed Sakura forward, making the pinkette move her feet. "A few behind us!" Sakura only nodded as she slid on her feet to an abrupt halt, turning towards behind them with her fist cocked back. Her attackers charged forward at a quick pace, way too quick to be pirates. Sakura growled as her fist plummeted into the ground, causing shards of earth and stone to rise up. She watched as one fell into a crevice, and another hit his head against one of the flying rocks.

Sakura turned, her legs carrying her back to Hinata's position. She watched as her teammate jumped into the air, spinning around in a circle with her leg up, two enemies bouncing off her kick and sent back into the trees they leapt from. As Hinata landed, Sakura jumped in front of her and sent a chakra enhanced punch to an attacker's face, sending him flying back.

The two continued the trend of watching each other's backs, spinning and vaulting around each other and covering the other's weakness as they sprinted back to the village. As Sakura dodged to the side of a volley of shuriken, Hinata turned the body of one of her limp opponents to intercept the thrown weapons. Hinata was sprayed with the blood of the already dead corpse as the shuriken embedded themselves into the flesh.

Sakura sprinted forward, the trees in her peripherals becoming a blur as she sent her fist through the trunk of a tree, her punch colliding with the back of an enemy's skull as the bark splintered off from his hiding place. Sakura kept the momentum and continued running, Hinata falling in stride with her as they continued blocking different weaponry being thrown at them.

As they reached the first building of the village, the jumped onto the rooftops and made their way to the village center. "We have to head South from here! We need to get back to the bridge and find the rest of our team!" Sakura said to Hinata, getting a nod in agreement as they passed the site Hinata had scouted earlier.

Sakura felt herself get tackled to the side, seeing Hinata's violet locks against her chest as they flew into the ground. Sakura watched with wide eyes as a current of earth spikes were sent in waves at the path they were taking prior. _"The Byakugan. I owe that eye."_

Hinata and Sakura both quickly took to their feet, watching as more and more ninja landed on the roofs around them. The two stood back to back, eyeing the area around them with nervous caution. Still, more ninja showed up, at least three dozen now. Sakura growled in frustration as Hinata took a deep breath and took her clan's signature stance, a patient feel about her. "He'll come," Hinata whispered as yet more ninja landed around them, encircling them like lambs to the slaughter.

Sakura nodded, but said nothing as took out a kunai and tossed it to her left hand, leaving her right hand free to deliver lethal punches. "Can't count on it though, it's you and me for all we know." Hinata gave a small smile over a shoulder as Sakura did the same. "We got this."

As Sakura said it, a few remaining ninja landed in front of them, a woman in the front. "Who are you?" Sakura demanded. The woman stepped forward, tying her dark, medium length hair back as she gave them both a cold look with her dark eyes. She wore a skin tight red turtleneck shirt with the right sleeve torn off, and a brown Iwa vest over it.

"My name is of no importance to the dead," the woman spoke confidently, her smirk annoying Sakura more than anything she'd ever seen.

"Then you should take that name and shove it up your own ass, because you'll be six feet under when I am through with you!" Sakura roared. The woman shook her head and let out an amused chuckle.

"I'll humor you and your monstrous personality," the woman said, further infuriating Sakura, "the name is Kurotsuchi. That is all I have to say."

The woman dubbed as Kurotsuchi then charged the two lone kunoichi, Sakura gasped at the speed for a moment and began to dodge the punch growing closer to her. As Sakura dodged it, Hinata intercepted it, blue emitting from Hinata's fingertips as she hit Kurotsuchi's arm. Kurotsuchi, however, disappeared, revealing a log in the place she previously attacked. "Substitution!" Hinata exclaimed as she grunted in surprise and leaned left, a punch flying by from behind her.

Kurotsuchi smirked as she flew by, resetting her feet once she was a few yards away from the two kunoichi. "Fast, Hyuga. You must make your father proud." Hinata furrowed her brows at that statement, resetting her face quickly as the two ninja behind Kurotsuchi flew by their commander and charged.

"Sakura!" Hinata cried out as Sakura moved forward and stopped the punch of one with her bare hand. The other stopped and formed some hand signs, putting his hand in the ground once they were completed.

"Earth Style: Mud Waves!" He shouted out, the dirt between him and Sakura beginning to move back and forth as if it were water. Sakura and Hinata slightly stumbled as another ninja from the side dashed off his roof and flew toward Sakura. The pinkette growled and squeezed, breaking the fist of the ninja she had caught, his cry of pain sounding out throughout the area. Sakura then slung the man around, catching the other's dash with his teammates own body. She let go and let the two fly into a house beside them.

"Earth Style: Mud Devil!" The mud around Hinata and Sakura began to twirl like a whirlpool, the mud rising up into the area, turning into more of a tornado. Splatters and clumps of mud flew into Sakura's eyes, forcing her to close them as she felt a punch hit her across the cheek. Hinata grunted as she spun around and delivered a punch straight to the heart of the ninja who had hit Sakura before he could dash away, leaving him dead in the mud beneath their feet.

"Hinata, I need your eyes!" Sakura shouted as the mud tornado grew taller and limited her vision. The tornado grew wider, leaving the entire town square surrounded, but leaving the ninja on the roofs around them invisible to Sakura's eyes. The only ones she could see for sure was the one who cast the Earth Style: Mud Waves, and Kurotsuchi.

"Behind you and to the right!" Hinata shouted. Sakura threw her elbow back, catching the gut of an attacker, before she gripped the collar of his shirt and threw him down into the mud. She gave one more quick punch to the face while he was down to be sure he was out before quickly resetting and spinning around, looking for more.

As Sakura turned to Hinata, she saw her arm bleeding from a slash across the bicep. "Hinata?" Sakura questioned as she heard as giggle from across the square, she locked eyes with Kurotsuchi, seeing blood drip down her kunai. She had hit Hinata?

"You made your little teammate focus too much on your own wellbeing." Sakura's eyes widened as she looked back to her teammate, the Hyuga cringing a bit at the pain. Sakura took a deep breath and brought her eyes back to her opponent. She had hit Hinata. "Wondering how? I must say, you underestimate me. Not like that's surprising, you don't even know who I am." Such confidence in that voice.

"Well, forgive me if I'm being rude, but I don't really care!" Sakura growled out. Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes in response.

"You should care. It could help you see the helplessness of the situation. I am the commander of all of the Hidden Stone's forces. I am the right hand woman to the Tsuchikage." Kurotsuchi frowned as she set a more serious tone. Sakura bit her lip, nervous and angry. She needed to control herself. They were outnumbered, with potentially at least forty enemy ninja around them. They were outclassed, with a potential Kage level kunoichi in front of them. They had no backup.

"Do not feel guilty, Sakura. I will protect you even if you don't request it of me. I will tell you where they are." Hinata spoke firmly. Sakura's eyes widened, comfort filling her chest as she heard those words.

Still though, with this many forces around them… It was impossible...

"Nice to acquaint yourself, Lady Kurotsuchi," a voice rang out. The mud devil died down and the full force of the enemy was revealed. Steps were heard from behind Sakura, and the voice continued. "Pardon my interruption." Sakura turned to see purple hair, and a woman wearing standard Leaf Village attire.

"The name is Yugao Uzuki, and I can't help but feel a little left out." Kurotsuchi gave a short 'hmph' in response as she took a step forward.

"Well, Yugao Uzuki. Feel free to further introduce yourself," Kurotsuchi suggested as she took a fighting stance. Yugao smirked and drew a katana.

"Gladly."

Kurotsuchi readied her kunai, adopting a serious look on her face. "Now, Guyen!"

"On it!" The ninja next to her replied, going through a series of hand seals before sticking his entire hand into the ground, twisting his wrist. "Earth Style: Entangling Mud!" The mud in front of Yugao began entwining as if there were vines, speeding towards Yugao. She gave a scoff, putting chakra into her feet and running across the swampy terrain with no hindrance.

Kurotsuchi formed a bird hand seal as she knelt to the ground. "Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!" The mud snaking around Yugao shot up like spikes, the ends sharp. Yugao gave a small gasp and spun mid-air, weaving through the attack. A spear winged her leg slightly, but her focus kept her from flinching and causing more damage from the oncoming spikes.

As Yugao landed, she pushed off the ground, her momentum taking her towards Kurotsuchi. A spike interrupted her path, forcing her to flip with her feet forward. Pumping chakra into her feet, Yugao pushed off the tip of the spike, flying back a few feet until gracefully landing. She growled as she again charged ahead the moment she landed, weaving between more entwining mud and spikes.

As she got closer to Kurotsuchi, a spike came from the side of Yugao, forcing the anbu to dodge slightly. She sliced upwards with her katana, splitting the spike into two so that both points went around her. Yugao took a few deep breaths, her and Kurotsuchi only a dozen yards away from each other.

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she watched the surrounding forces begin to move forward, one by one dashing off of their rooftops. "Hinata!" She heard Sakura yell from beside her. Hinata turned quickly, grabbing Sakura's arm and swinging her teammate around in a circle. Sakura roared out and cocked her fist back as Hinata threw her into the closest enemy ninja. As Sakura's fist met, the enemy flew back into a few of his comrades.

"Not done yet!" Sakura shouted out as she kept her momentum and threw her fist into the ground, causing it to quake and stagger many of the ninja as they grew closer. Time was bought, and Hinata decided to use it wisely, using her speed and eyes to dash around the field and hit her enemies while they were staggered.

Yugao jumped over a spike shot out her direction as Kurotsuchi followed her up, the two meeting katana to kunai before landed in the other's previous spots. Yugao bit her thumb as she landed, taking out a scroll and sliding her thumb quickly across, summoning several katanas out in front of her. Yugao jumped into the air and kicked each katana by the hilt, sending them flying toward Kurotsuchi.

A blast sounded throughout the area as the blades hit the sound barrier, Kurotsuchi began to dodge, but the katanas approached way too quick. Taking the sacrifice that at least one would hit, she twisted her body to the side. "No!" She yelled as she realized she wouldn't be fast enough to achieve even that.

Vines of mud shot out in front of her, grabbing the katanas and slowing them down drastically, but Kurotsuchi still took a slice along her ribs. Pain shot up her side as she landed, but she quickly regained her composure and began to charge towards Yugao. "Guyen!"

"Ma'am!" The ninja responded, setting several hand seals into motion before throwing his hand into the mud. "Earth Style: Mud Vortex!" The mud beneath Yugao's feet began to swirl as Kurotsuchi jumped into the air, speeding towards her. Yugao dodged slightly and raised her katana to block the attack, but her disorientation allowed Kurotsuchi to stab a kunai into her shoulder. Yugao let out a cry of pain as she pushed chakra into her feet and leapt back towards Sakura and Hinata.

As Yugao jumped back, vines of mud followed her, beating her to the side and snagging her foot. As the grip tightened, she was thrown into ground, followed by a punch from Kurotsuchi who had dashed by her. Sakura gasped as she saw Yugao lying unconscious in the mud, blood pooling from her shoulder and her face swelling from the beating.

Hinata pulled on Sakura's vest, pulling her back as she stepped between attack, blocking it and sending the ninja away. Things grew quiet as the two began to block several attacks thrown their way, slowing down considerably. Out of the forty or so that they assumed were around them, they had taken a dozen out of the fight.

Sakura looked at Hinata as she fended off another, her right sleeve coated in blood. She was taking deep breaths. Sakura ground her teeth as she realized they wouldn't be able to do this very long. Not to mention, it was as if the enemy was toying with them at the moment.

"Hinata." Hinata turned and looked at Sakura out of the corner of her eye, showing she was listening. "We need to focus on one area, we need to get out. Where is the thinnest spot in their ranks?" Hinata turned back away and focused intently on the area behind where Kurotsuchi was standing.

"Behind where their strongest troops are," Hinata said in a low voice. Sakura looked toward the confident Kurotsuchi, who still wore a smirk despite one eye wincing in pain and one hand holding her ribcage. "She is strong. As is that mud style user." Sakura nodded in agreement. Their captain had been defeated, and as it stood now she was their only backup.

"Okay here is the-" Sakura was cut off as Kurotsuchi bull rushed forward. She then panicked when she noticed that all the remaining ninja began to dash into the fight together. _"We can't take them all! We need a way out!"_ As she thought that, she felt a stinging pain in the back of her head as she was sent forward a few feet. As she stumbled, she fell right into another punch. Vines wrapped around Sakura's feet as blood began to spill over her eyes.

Through the red, she made out Kurotsuchi rushing forward just in front of her. As the woman threw a punch, Sakura lifted her hand and caught it. The vines tightened as Kurotsuchi adjusted, sending a kick to Sakura's head. Sakura lifted her arm and crossed it over her torso, protecting the side of her head as the kick collided with her forearm. She cried out in pain as the momentum of the kick pushed her over, feeling her knee tear as the vines still gripped her feet.

As Sakura saw another foot ready to meet her face as she lie on the ground in pain, she saw a fist meet the approaching attack. Hinata began spinning around, her fists flying in a full circle as the ninja continuously attacked. Kurotsuchi jumped back and reset herself as she again cast the bird sign, sending spikes of mud toward the Hyuga.

Hinata weaved through the spikes as Sakura began freeing herself from the mud with a kunai. Hinata grabbed Sakura by the shoulder and threw her towards where Yugao was beginning to awake. The purple haired kunoichi looked just as bad as Sakura did. Hinata growled out as she saw three attacks approach her at once. She could handle three, and two more if need be if there were any surprises.

Hinata grabbed the first ninja by the wrist and tossed him into the second, both thrown to the side, giving her just enough time to turn and slap the third attack to the side. As she turned, a spike made its way out of the ground under her, she gasped but adjusted her defense. Hinata moved to the side as she blocked the man's punch out of the way, chakra flying out of her fingertips. The man grunted, but another spike emerged from beside him shooting towards Hinata's abdomen.

Hinata spun around the attack elegantly, but saw another attack coming from her right. _"Those were the five attacks. I can't move in time!"_ Hinata rose her arm slightly to block it, and moved her face away hoping to take some of the impact away from the blow, but Kurotsuchi hit her hard. The Hyuga flew towards her two teammates, skipping along the mud like a stone over water. She rolled a couple times before coming to a stop in front of her two down comrades.

"That's it, the three of you are done," Kurotsuchi shouted out. "You are outnumbered, outmatched, wounded. Surrender yourselves and we will take you prisoner. I like a good fight but there is no need for any more death." Sakura grunted in response, trying to pick herself up. Pain shot through her knee as soon as she put any pressure on it to get up. Her hand began to glow as she began to heal it slowly, her energy shot.

Hinata slowly began to pick herself up, her chakra low, but keeping her Byakugan active as she looked frantically around her and her teammates for any immediate threat. Sakura looked at the Hyuga in shock that she could still get up, but felt pride in her teammate. "I… I won't give up."

Sakura gasped at those words. So similar to Naruto's words. "That… that is not my ninja way!" Hinata yelled as Kurotsuchi growled and motioned her troops forward. Hinata began her defense, throwing punches and blocks with a vigour that Sakura didn't know the girl had as their enemies descended upon them.

Hinata grunted as an attack hit her leg, but she still moved in between an attacker and Sakura when they attempted to stop the medic from healing. She took a hit because of her defense of Sakura, but immediately retaliated and hit the man in the abdomen. The man coughed up blood and stumbled back as Kurotsuchi dashed forward and put her own kunai into Hinata's ribs.

"No!" Sakura cried out as she heard all of Hinata's breath leave her. The Hyuga gasped for air as she collapsed to the ground, still trying desperately to stand back up. Sakura watched helplessly as blood poured down the kunai stuck in Hinata's ribs.

"It's over! Finish their medic!" Kurotsuchi ordered. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw the attack approach her. The move was slow, Sakura would be able to catch the attack. She quickly flicker her eyes to the left to see a volley of shuriken approaching her. Sakura took a deep breath, awaiting the impact from the punch as she barely moved out of the path of the shuriken.

The punch grew closer, as Sakura's hand instinctively raised to catch it. She awaited to feel the sting of shuriken against her arm, but none came. She heard the thuds, heard the sharp sounds of shuriken meeting flesh. She looked to her side to see Hinata facing her, her back full of shuriken. She still was gasping for air, blood dripping down from her wound as she fell to the mud.

Sakura stared with wide eyes, as the ninja who had threw the punch at her began to throw another. He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, his legs separated from his feet as Yugao sliced her katana through his ankles from the ground. Yugao attempted to shakily stand up, her legs wanting to give out, but she gave a loud roar as she began to take a last ditch effort charge towards Kurotsuchi.

The dark haired woman just took a deep breath, sadness actually showing in her eyes as she easily avoided the attack from Yugao, who had lunged her katana towards Kurotsuchi's heart. The enemy commander lifted her arms and held them around Yugao's neck as she spun around, facing Sakura. With one swift movement, Sakura heard a loud crack and turned away, focusing on the injured Hinata.

Forgetting her own injuries, Sakura began to heal the Hyuga, ignoring the enemy. Her eyes dropped tears. She only wanted Hinata to live at this point. Should she surrender? She looked back to the enemy, still healing Hinata's wounds. She didn't look like she wanted to avoid death anymore. It had escalated with Hinata's injuries and Yugao's death. Mercy had run out.

"Finish them. I'm done." Kurotsuchi ordered as she began to walk away. Her forces lunged toward Sakura and the gasping Hinata. Sakura just lowered her eyes as she saw the shadows draw closer.

"Well done, Hinata." Sakura whispered to her downed teammate. She was proud of the timid Hyuga. She had grown so much, just like the man she idolized. Sakura felt a tear escape her. _"Naruto."_ She sniffed, the shadows growing closer as she focused on healing Hinata, keeping her at least comfortable for the moment, before it ended.

Sakura looked up, meeting the eyes of several ninja surrounding them. Her knee throbbing in pain, Yugao's corpse in the distance. Hinata gasping for air. She saw and heard everything. The rustles of leaves. The wind kicking up dirt. Mud sloshing.

She heard her own tears drop. She heard the blood pool out of Hinata. She heard a man roar as he began to throw a finishing blow. She could hear the nearby ocean and rivers, the waves and currents. She closed her eyes as she heard one last tear slide down her cheek…

And then she heard a cloak flap against the wind. Just that. No steps, no voice, no sound of a jutsu. Just a cloak.

She opened her eyes to see orange, black, and red.

Naruto's eyes darted left and right at the approaching ninja, Kurotsuchi turning to see her new enemy. Naruto caught the hand of the man who aimed to deliver the finishing blow, and pulled him closer delivering a catastrophic punch. The blonde ninja turned his eyes and saw the twenty or so ninja surrounding his team.

"Sakura," Sakura heard the voice clear as day, and felt her heart soar. "You focus on healing yourselves enough." He turned, his eyes meeting hers. His determined, angry, focused eyes. "And then you run."

Naruto whipped a scroll out from his cloak and slid his bloodied finger along it. His ninjato appeared in his hand as he drew a kunai with his left. Sakura pushed as much chakra as she could into healing Hinata as Naruto began circling the two, spinning around and blocking any attack thrown. Blood sprayed as his ninjato and kunai tore through flesh, all attacks being repelled as the young ninja defended his precious ones.

Sakura looked up in awe as Naruto flipped over them, his eyes focused on the fight as his entire body was over the top of Sakura and Hinata. He landed gracefully and swiped his sword against the stomach of an opponent, immediately dashing left and putting his kunai into the temple of another.

The remaining ninja jumped back to their commander, as Kurotsuchi eyed the blonde warily. "You." She stated simply. Naruto returned her gaze, his own much more intimidating as he took a stance in between his enemies and friends. His ninjato in a defensive position in front of his torso, with his kunai in a reverse grip in front of his face.

"Me." Naruto heard a pair of feet land beside him.

"Heroes always arrive at the last second, eh Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, a serious expression etched on his face. Naruto didn't bother looking toward his friend, his gaze was locked on Kurotsuchi.

"You not only managed to kill one of my teammates, you managed to hurt one of my precious people," Naruto's eyes narrowed as Kurotsuchi took a step forward. "The tailed beasts couldn't save you, now."

Kurotsuchi motioned her men forward, but stopped Guyen. "Call the rest. This isn't a pursuit anymore."

"Ma'am?" Guyen responded, sweat dripping down his cheek.

"This is a war, now."

As the man stepped away, Naruto growled. "What the hell are you doing in the Wave?" Shikamaru put a hand up, silencing Naruto.

"It's obvious, if you think about it. No killed villagers, supplies disappearing? They wanted to hinder the supplies the Leaf was receiving, while also stocking up the resources required to host an army." Shikamaru stated. "But they didn't want to draw up too much attention by killing innocents. They didn't want a team full of Chunin and Jounin interfering."

Kurotsuchi furrowed her brows and ground her teeth. Now she really couldn't let them leave. "So," Shikamaru continued, "they tried to keep things quiet, no bloodshed. This was likely in hopes that the Leaf wouldn't interfere, and would at most send a Genin squad, which they could easily get rid of.

"This of course, would eventually grab our Hokage's attention, but by then they would be all stocked up with food and supplies. Enough to begin a surprise invasion. Unfortunately for them, we had no idea what was really going on here, it was just coincidence that we were sending an elite team here to start a police division. Lucky, or unlucky, not really certain of that one."

Kurotsuchi growled at that one. So this team was just their hindrance out of luck? They had no idea they were even here? Bullshit. "Bullshit." She gripped her kunai tight. "Kill them!"

Shikamaru assumed his stance as his shadows began to spread across the small battlefield, Naruto stepping in front of him to guard him from any attacks. "I'll focus on defending these two, you focus on the killshots!" Naruto nodded in agreement, his blue eyes shining with the need for revenge.

The Sage began to scan the battlefield, his eyes paying close attention to how the mud was weaved around, how dried mud spikes were protruding from the mud beneath it. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the ground split apart in a circle in the middle, remnants and shards of earth in a near perfect radius.

" _So, Sakura had to resort to that?"_ He took note of how big the radius of the attack was, and the couple of bodies that were pinned between the frayed landscape. _"That attack uses quite a bit of chakra, based on the size of it."_ He showed his fangs as he took another look at his enemy.

"Let's go then!" He roared as he tossed his kunai forward, putting his fingers into a cross seal. Two clones appeared beside him, while simultaneously the kunai multiplied into several. Kurotsuchi and her men charged forward, her hand forming the bird seal as more spikes began to shoot out from the mud around Naruto.

Naruto's kunai all hit a singular spike of mud, shot out for the sole purpose of stopping them. Kurotsuchi formed a different set of seals and formed a dome of earth around her and her men as the blonde grew closer. She narrowed her eyes as it grew quiet, and her men all prepared themselves.

As she was about to push the dome forward, daylight shot through the entire dome, Naruto sending a Rasengan through it. _"That jutsu! No! It's different!"_ As the Rasengan penetrated the defense, lightning shout out of it wildly in all different directions, electrocuting some of her men and only shocking others enough to delay them.

"Lightning Style: Spiralling Storms!" Naruto shouted as he thrust his new technique into the ninja beside Kurotsuchi. The kunoichi watched in horror as arcs of lightning connected between his fingers and his teeth, and different strikes of lightning burned holes in his body. Finally, his body disintegrated, leaving lightning in the shape of his body just briefly before quickly fading out.

" _That's… That's an insane technique!"_ Kurotsuchi snapped herself out of it, switching her hand seals. The dome around them crumbled, the pieces of earth falling to the ground. A moment after, the pieces began rolling along the ground, forming together in the middle. "Earth Style: Stone Golem!"

A roar filled the space around the ninja as the golem sprung to life, throwing a punch at Naruto before it was even fully assembled, the last pieces of rock chasing it to finish the technique. Naruto sprinted forward straight at the golem, side stepping it's first slow punch. As it began to swipe with its other hand, Naruto slid between the golem's legs and threw up a kunai. A tag on the kunai began to burn, and a small explosion followed, shattering the golem to different pieces.

Kurotsuchi formed another set of seals as Naruto threw a punch at her, forcing her to dodge to the side. She finished her last seal and put her hand against her lips, shooting out dust that caused the young sage to back off a bit. "What's the point of that?" Naruto asked himself as he looked closely at the dust. "Are they, little shards?" As he guessed, the dust shot straight at him, spreading out to attempt to encircle him.

Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes as the blonde disappeared in the dust. No way it was that easy. Just then, she felt a rumble beneath her feet and gasped as Naruto shot out of the ground behind her. "Earth Style: Mud Canal!" She heard from beside her. The ground beneath Naruto grew a fast, large current that carried him a few feet before he could jump out.

As he began to think towards his next attack, Naruto looked up to the rooftops to see a second wave of ninja show up, a green haired ninja with glasses appeared to be leading them. "Need some help, Kurotsuchi, my love?" He spoke in a sickly tone that made Naruto uncomfortable to his very core.

Kurotsuchi scoffed at that. "Hibiki. Wouldn't mind the help, no." Naruto growled as the new wave of twenty or so ninja jumped down to the battlefield, joining Kurotsuchi and her injured comrades.

" _Guess it's time."_ Naruto thought to himself as he took the scroll off his back and set it on the ground, beginning his hand seals. "Summoning Technique!" Kurotsuchi watched in curiosity as a clone appeared next to the blonde, before being immediately dispelled.

"What was that about?" Hibiki questioned as he formed hand seals of his own.

Sakura gasped as the world around her grew dim, she looked to Hinata, still concerned with the injuries but she was stable. As Sakura looked back up to her teammate, she panicked as she saw a ninja behind Naruto, lunging at him with a kunai. "Naruto! Behind you!" As she called it out, she just saw a smirk on her teammate's face.

"Don't worry, Sakura. It's just genjutsu. You're doing a great job, just focus on Hinata." His voice was so calm, so sure. He was confident, but he wasn't getting cocky. Sakura looked into his eyes to see the orange covering his eyelids, and his horizontal pupil. Sage Mode.

"Naruto, might want to hurry it up. It's getting dicey over here!" Shikamaru called to him. Sakura shifted her eyes to the Nara, watching in awe as his shadows covered the area around them. Each shadow seemed to have an agenda, as they were weaving through enemies, freezing some and strangling others. Still though, there were so many enemy ninja in the area.

"Sakura." Sakura turned to Naruto's voice, his eyes meeting hers. "Get Hinata up, start moving back to the bridge. Not a single one of these guys will lay a finger on you." Sakura bit her lip, looking at all the ninja surrounding them. It didn't seem possible that he could say that. The second they moved from the protection of Shikamaru and Naruto, they would be hunted down and killed. "Sakura, I promise."

Sakura's eyes widened as they went back to Naruto's. _Promise_. He promised. That was enough for her, but she didn't understand why it would be. She met Hinata's eyes, the Hyuga giving the slightest nod. Sakura returned the nod with confidence, picking Hinata up and allowing their bodies to lean against each other. "We'll have to support each other, but we need to move fast, no matter how much it hurts. Okay?" Sakura got a nod in response.

"Go, Sakura. I'll draw their attention first, then Naruto will be right next to you," Shikamaru informed her, giving Sakura the cue to begin to move.

As Sakura and Hinata took their first steps, they immediately felt comforted when Shikamaru's shadows dove into the terrain around them. They weaved through the landscape, latching onto any ninja that got even remotely close to the two. When one dodged the first shadow and moved a little too close for comfort, the shadow returned and stabbed itself through the back of the ninja's throat.

As they made it into the treeline, Shikamaru's shadows stopped. Sakura's stomach dropped a bit the very moment she saw the first enemy ninja ahead, but the feeling immediately disappeared when Naruto blitzed forward from behind her and fought the ninja off. She again spotted a ninja to her left for only a moment before Naruto dropped down from above him and delivered an axe kick against the top of his head.

" _He's fast."_ Sakura noticed as he blurred from tree to tree around her. Blood stayed in the air from his ninjato longer than it took for him to already be gone from his opponent. Sakura felt Hinata's body grow limp, her knee burning at having the extra weight against her. "Damn it, she must be losing consciousness from the blood loss!"

As she said it, she felt the weight lessen immensely as two shadow clones picked the two kunoichi up off their feet. "Got you!" The two said, beginning to sprint to the bridge.

"Why didn't you just do this in the first place, Naruto!?" Sakura questioned in an annoyed manner.

"Boss can only have three clones active while he has others gathering the energy required for Sage Mode. He is limited to just one to help him fight now that we're carrying you." Sakura looked over the clone's shoulder to see the real Naruto jump from branch to branch of a tree, putting a Rasengan through one of his opponents.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm still here to help him," the pinkette heard from beside her. She turned to see Shikamaru running alongside them, his own ninjato in his hand. "Don't worry about using up some of his clones. He'll manage." Sakura nodded in response, confident that the blonde would be okay even with just one clone helping him.

Sakura watched as the Nara joined Naruto in the battle, taking on a lot less of the opponents that he was, but still effective in escorting her and Hinata away from the battle. "Naruto, what happens when we get to the bridge? Why does that help us?" The clone kept his eyes forward as he ran, before dodging slightly as a kunai flew by him.

"Boss sent Gamaden to Kakashi-sensei. He's hoping that the message was delivered and that we will rendezvous with a team when we get to the bridge, assuming that team is travelling quickly."

Sakura gave him a blank look before further questioning the clone. "What team can possibly travel so fast as to get here in less than a day?"

"I can think of one, off the top of my head." The reply was vague, but she got it. Team Gai could get here in time. "First, we have to get to that bridge."

"N-Naruto…" A timid voice was able to strain out the name, and Sakura looked toward her near-fallen teammate that was lying in the other clone's arms.

"Hang in there, Hinata. Just a lit-" The clone paused, both stopping abruptly. "Sakura, please keep moving. We have to help the boss." Both the clones gingerly set the kunoichi down before taking off into the forest. As they launched to the trees, Shikamaru came spiralling down, rolling to the feet of Hinata and Sakura.

"Troublesome woman," he managed to grunt out before he leapt back to his feet and charged back into battle. So, did that mean Kurotsuchi was giving them more problems?

"Alright, Hinata. Let's keep going, okay? Lean against me." Sakura put her arm around Hinata's back and took the few steps forward. She mentally pushed herself to keep moving, to do as Naruto told her and just keep leading Hinata to safety. Hinata, meanwhile, was still breathing inconsistently, uneven and ragged. Still though, the Hyuga heiress moved forward.

Sakura looked up to see Naruto jump from tree to tree to avoid attacks from the commander of the Hidden Stone forces, the woman attacking with a relentlessness and impatience that rivaled Naruto's own. Still, she trudged forward, rooftops in sight through the treeline in front of her. It felt like daylight.

She heard feet land to her left and right, seeing both Naruto and Shikamaru around her. They both assumed their combat stances and rotated around Sakura and Hinata, deflecting any and all forms of attack that the enemy threw at them. Naruto flew by Sakura and slid under an earth spike that aimed to impale him, quickly hopping back to his feet and sending a roundhouse kick to the side of his opponent's head.

Shikamaru deflected a kunai with his ninjato before it could hit Sakura, then knelt down and sent his shadow to impale two ninja that were gaining ground on them from behind. Sakura looked ahead to see Kurotsuchi, Guyen, and Hibiki land in front of her. In between the team and the village that hosted the Great Naruto Bridge.

Sakura looked to the Hyuga heiress before lightly setting her down, the pain in her knee still excruciating. Naruto formed a Rasengan, and did his common trick of separating it into five different orbs at each fingertip. "Wind Style: Spiralling Shurikens!" The orbs all developed a shuriken shape around them with wind chakra, before he sent them flying in different directions, creating explosions at each impact destructive enough to tear through any man.

Sakura cocked her fist back and focused her chakra intently, smashing the ground beneath them. The earth split in the direction of the commander and her two bodyguards, and Sakura hated the smirk that Hibiki wore on his face.

"Lightning Style: Spiralling Storm!" Sakura heard Naruto shout out from beside her. Naruto and Kurotsuchi began to charge towards each other, Guyen attempting to slip Naruto's guard with the terrain shifting mud techniques he used. None of it phased Naruto, who charged towards the enemy commander with a purpose.

Hinata stared intently at Naruto's technique, seeing the five orbs circling each other, lightning chaining along all five, spinning around so fast that it looked like just a single sphere. It was a sight to behold. A technique that all ninja dreamed of attaining. But, it was Naruto's. Her Naruto's.

The Hyuga had barely grown conscious, the world around her dim, even with the sun shining through the trees. _"Why is the world so dark?"_ She thought. She could feel how wrong her breaths were. She could feel the lack of blood running through her veins. She felt weak, and empty. Like no life was left. She watch as Kurotsuchi grew closer to her and Sakura, Naruto moving forward as well.

Then, Hinata gasped as she saw Hibiki, that smirk on his face, closing in from above Naruto. Naruto wasn't even looking at him at all. Like Hibiki didn't exist.

' _I will protect you even if you don't request it of me.'_

Her own words. She wouldn't give up the fight. That was her way of the ninja. She would protect her precious people. Naruto's face was lit blue with the light of his technique, focused fully on Kurotsuchi as Hinata saw Hibiki descend closer to her loved one. Hinata grunted and pushed chakra into her feet, sending herself forward, all sound disappearing around her. Silence. Darkness.

Sakura panicked as she saw Hinata leave her side, she had set her down for just a moment. She watched as she charged towards Naruto, who was sending his new Spiralling Storm technique towards Kurotsuchi. "Hinata!"

' _Hinata!'_

" _What?"_ Naruto's voice sounded through his own head.

The sound of flesh being torn sounded throughout the forest, blood splattering across Naruto's face, as the smell of burning skin and blood filled his nostrils. His eyes were wide, shaking, as tears instantly down his cheeks. Kurotsuchi stopped, her own eyes wide, and her heart dropping as she looked at the scene in front of her.

Shikamaru let out a gasp, his hands forming his clan's signature seal. His shadow extended through the battlefield, weaving through the corpses and weaponry littering the landscape. The shadow used the shadows of the spikes that had risen from the ground, and the same shadow stopped just before it reached where Hinata was.

"I… Couldn't… I couldn't stop her." Shikamaru's voice was surprised, frustrated, and frail.

Sakura shook as her own tears fell. She just had her. She was just in her arms, at her side. They almost made it. Her face wore surprise and pain as she shifted her eyes to Naruto. Out of everyone, Naruto…

Naruto looked the worst. He looked at his blood coated sleeve. His sight of his arm stopping halfway down the forearm, where Hinata's chest began. Her clothes were singed, burnt, torn. Blood dripped from her lips, and her eyes were halfway shut. "W-what did you do…" Naruto managed to stutter out, his voice broken. He was broken.

Hinata took her hand, blood still dripping down her arm where she had been cut earlier. Her hand ran along Naruto's cheek, blood staining along his whisker marks. Her neck shifted as she lost all strength in her body, and with the last bit of it she had, she bent over and kissed Naruto softly on the forehead.

Hinata's kiss left blood in the shape of her lips, as if a woman with red lipstick had just given him the kiss.

' _Because… I love you, Naruto.'_

Naruto broke down as he saw Hinata's eyes dim, and turn to lifeless orbs in front of him. His arm was still through her torso, holding her up as she fell against him. No words left Naruto's lips, he knelt down, his arm still where he hit her.

Sakura choked up as she heard Hibiki laugh in the background, Kurotsuchi looking at him, also surprised. "She was so out of it, she didn't even notice she was in my genjutsu." Sakura then remembered earlier, she had seen someone behind Naruto, someone who aimed to hurt him. "My technique makes my enemies believe that their comrades are in danger, and makes them act irrationally, opening them up to my attacks. However, I guess with this one I didn't have to use my attacks at all. Blondie here did it for me, eh?"

"Do you have to taunt him? You're a monster, you know that?!" Kurotsuchi roared at him, her own face seemingly riddled with guilt.

The three enemy ninja then looked to be on high alert as birds began to chirp. Dozens. Hundreds. A thousand. Guyen and Kurotsuchi stepped back, their eyes wide as they looked around to all the trees. Kurotsuchi's eyes focused to one tree, a blue light so bright that it made the world around it darker. Then it shot off.

"Gyahhhhhhh!" A scream. Sakura's eye had never left Hibiki, who now had a lightning blade sticking through where his heart would be. Hibiki let out a few final breaths, staring into the Sharingan.

Before Hibiki could let out one last breath, before he could pass to the afterlife, the masked man in front of him pulled him in closer. Lightning still coursing through his arm, Kakashi brought the man's face closer, his teeth grinding out as he saw life begin to leave the man's eyes. "Raikiri." Kakashi growled out, barely above the sound of a whisper, before the man finally passed on.

The Hokage then turned to Naruto, his eyes filling with sadness. He held in his tears, looking at Naruto's broken face. The boy still hadn't moved. "Naruto… No…" Kakashi spoke, his voice slightly cracked and was hardly audible.

Kakashi's own mind filled with memories. Rin with his lightning blade… He shook his head. This wasn't about him. "I…" He turned to stare Kurotsuchi in the eye, and if looks could kill… "Would leave." She didn't need to be told twice, she quickly grabbed Guyen by the arm and disappeared into the trees.

"I couldn't stop her," Shikamaru repeated, his hands shaking as he stared at the scene in front of him. Kakashi walked by him, momentarily gliding his hand across Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Help Sakura, Team Gai will be at the bridge soon." Kakashi ordered. Shikamaru looked up to his Hokage and hardly shook his head. He leapt over to Sakura, picking her up bridal style and began sprinting towards the bridge.

Kakashi turned his attention to his blonde student. _"This… This is going to be the hardest thing ever. For him, and for me."_

* * *

 **I really hope this is as good as I tried to make it. I wanted this to be exciting, suspenseful, emotional, all the above.**

 **This story, I have a picture painted. I really feel like this was a big step moving forward. I did say in an earlier chapter, things can and will change depending on how these characters react and change to certain events. This... This is an event that I have thought of for a long time. It had to be Hinata. It had to be someone that acknowledged Naruto more than anyone else, someone who loved him.**

 **Thus, begins the story. This is where it all truly begins, where you, the reader, get to see my picture being painted. The tone is set. Now, it will be explored.**


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